Too hot to nest? In a hot summer the Tortoise Chersina Angulata can switch from nesting to facultative viviparity

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Date

2022

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Frontiers Media

Abstract

In a captive colony of Chersina angulata in Cape Town, South Africa, we observed in 2015/16 retention of the last egg clutch inside the female until the hatching stage was reached, conforming to the generally accepted definition of viviparity. Retrospective climatic analysis indicates egg retention until the hatching stage co-occurred with unusually hot summer weather: the average air temperatures in December 2015 and January and February 2016 were higher than during the preceding five and the following 5 years when facultative viviparity could not be observed. Late December and January appears to be the critical period for females to either deposit their last clutch of the nesting season into a nest, or to retain the last clutch for embryonic development inside the female. Over the 28 December to 24 January period the minimum, average and maximum air temperatures in 2015–16 were about 3◦C higher than in the five following years.

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Keywords

Heat, Rainfall, Climate change, Reptile, Reproductive strategy, Tortoise Chersina angulata

Citation

Kuchling, G., & Hofmey, M. D. (2022). Too hot to nest? In a hot summer the Tortoise Chersina Angulata can switch from nesting to facultative viviparity. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. 9,788764. 10.3389/fevo.2021.788764