The temperature-sensitive period (TSP) during incubation of broad-snouted caiman (Caiman latirostris) eggs

Piña, Carlos; Siroski, Pablo; Larriera, Alejandro; Lance, Valentine; Verdade, Luciano M.

The temperature-sensitive period (TSP) during incubation of broad-snouted caiman (Caiman latirostris) eggs

2007

Piña, Carlos | Siroski, Pablo | Larriera, Alejandro | Lance, Valentine | Verdade, Luciano M.

All crocodiles studied to date exhibit temperature-dependent sex determination. During the many weeks from egg laying to hatch there is a period of 10 to 15 d in the middle third of incubation (in the American alligator) during which the sex of the embryo is irreversibly fixed, referred to as the temperature-sensitive period or TSP. In this work we investigated the TSP in Caiman latirostris eggs incubated at female-inducing and male-inducing temperatures (29° C and 33° C respectively) by switching eggs from 29° C to 33° C and vice versa at timed interval throughout incubation. Compared to Alligator mississippiensis the duration of TSP was longer, and the onset of TSP was at an earlier stage of incubation.

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