Incubation temperature modulates post-hatching thermoregulatory behavior in the Madagascar ground gecko, Paroedura pictus

Mark S Blumberg; Sean J Lewis; Greta Sokoloff

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Incubation temperature modulates post-hatching thermoregulatory behavior in the Madagascar ground gecko, Paroedura pictus

Journal article

Peer reviewed

Incubation temperature modulates post-hatching thermoregulatory behavior in the Madagascar ground gecko, Paroedura pictus

Mark S Blumberg, Sean J Lewis and Greta Sokoloff

Journal of experimental biology, Vol.205(Pt 18), pp.2777-2784

09/2002

PMID: 12177143

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Abstract

All vertebrates regulate body temperature within narrow limits, regardless of their physiological capabilities. When do these limits develop, and can they be modified by manipulations of the developmental thermal environment? We addressed these questions by incubating the eggs of the Madagascar ground gecko, Paroedura pictus, at three temperatures and by assessing thermoregulatory behavior in hatchlings. Thermoregulatory behavior was assessed using a two-choice shuttle paradigm, and skin temperatures were measured non-invasively using infrared thermography. The shuttling behavior of hatchlings was systematically affected by the temperature at which they were incubated, and follow-up tests suggested that this effect persisted for at least three weeks post-hatching. The body temperature data from the shuttling experiment were used to model thermoregulatory behavior in a complex thermal environment; the model predicted systematic effects of incubation temperature on thermal preference. The specificity of the alteration in thermoregulatory behavior by incubation temperature is compelling and provides evidence for powerful pre-hatching influences on a fundamental, life-sustaining behavioral process.

Madagascar

Skin Temperature - physiology

Lizards - physiology

Temperature

Animals

Body Temperature Regulation - physiology

Aging - physiology

Lizards - embryology

Lizards - growth & development

Details

Title: Subtitle: Incubation temperature modulates post-hatching thermoregulatory behavior in the Madagascar ground gecko, Paroedura pictus
Creators: Mark S Blumberg - Program in Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Iowa, Iowa City 52242, USA. mark-blumberg@uiowa.edu
Sean J Lewis
Greta Sokoloff
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Journal of experimental biology, Vol.205(Pt 18), pp.2777-2784
PMID: 12177143
NLM abbreviation: J Exp Biol
ISSN: 0022-0949
eISSN: 1477-9145
Publisher: England
Grant note: MH50701 / NIMH NIH HHS HD38708 / NICHD NIH HHS
Language: English
Date published: 09/2002
Academic Unit: Psychological and Brain Sciences; Iowa Neuroscience Institute; Biology
Record Identifier: 9984002419202771

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