Abstract
Mobile ectothermic animals can control their body temperatures by selecting specific thermal conditions in the environment, but embryos - trapped within an immobile egg and lacking locomotor structures - have been assumed to lack that ability. Falsifying that assumption, our experimental studies show that even early stage turtle embryos move within the egg to exploit small-scale spatial thermal heterogeneity. Behavioral thermoregulation is not restricted to posthatching life and instead may be an important tactic in every life-history stage.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 9513-9515 |
Number of pages | 3 |
Journal | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |
Volume | 108 |
Issue number | 23 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 7 Jun 2011 |
Externally published | Yes |