Incubation under climate warming affects learning ability and survival in hatchling lizards.

ABSTRACT: Despite compelling evidence for substantial individual differences in cognitive performance, it is unclear whether cognitive ability influences fitness of wild animals. In many animals, environmental stressors experienced in utero can produce substantial variation in the cognitive abilities of offspring. In reptiles, incubation temperatures experienced by embryos can influence hatchling brain function and learning ability. Under climate warming, the eggs of some lizard species may experience higher temperatures, which could affect the cognitive abilities of hatchlings. Whether such changes in cognitive abilities influence the survival of hatchlings is unknown. To determine whether incubation-induced changes in spatial learning ability affect hatchling survival, we incubated velvet g

SUBMITTER: Dayananda B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5377038 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature