Factors Influencing Nesting Synchrony and Hatching Success at a Green Iguana Nesting Aggregation in Panama

Bock, Brian C.; Rand, A. Stanley

doi:10.2307/1445983

Cited by 15 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Soils are extremely hard or compact at some nesting sites, and, as a result, nesting burrow excavation requires considerable time and energy. Mothers of these species are known to deposit their eggs in the chambers of conspecifics (references above), and may save considerable energy and time, or ensure their survival, by doing so (Bock and Rand 1989;Mora 1989;Burger and Zappalorti 1991;Rand and Dugan 1983;Wiewandt 1982). The commonness of mothers excavating previous nesting burrows to save on excavation costs at communal nest sites is manifested in vigorous nest defense against conspecifics in some iguana species and in tuataras (Rauch 1988;N.…”

Section: Maternal Benefits Hypothesismentioning

confidence: 99%

Communal Egg-laying In Reptiles And Amphibians: Evolutionary Patterns And Hypotheses

Doody¹,

Freedberg²,

Keogh

2009

The Quarterly Review of Biology

116

140

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Communal egg-laying is widespread among animals, occurring in insects, mollusks, fish, amphibians, reptiles, and birds, just to name a few. While some benefits of communal egg-laying may be pervasive (e.g., it saves time and energy and may ensure the survival of mothers and their offspring), the remarkable diversity in the life histories of the animals that exhibit this behavior presents a great challenge to discovering any general explanation. Reptiles and amphibians offer ideal systems for investigating communal egg-laying because they generally lack parental care--a simplification that brings nest site choice behavior into sharp focus. We exhaustively reviewed the published literature for data on communal egg-laying in reptiles and amphibians. Our analysis demonstrates that the behavior is much more common than previously recognized (occurring in 481 spp.), especially among lizards (N = 255 spp.), where the behavior has evolved multiple times. Our conceptual review strongly suggests that different forces may be driving the evolution and maintenance of communal egg-laying in different taxa. Using a game theory approach, we demonstrate how a stable equilibrium may occur between solitary and communal layers, thus allowing both strategies to co-exist in some populations, and we discuss factors that may influence these proportions. We conclude by outlining future research directions for determining the proximate and ultimate causes of communal egg-laying.

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Section: Maternal Benefits Hypothesismentioning

confidence: 99%

Communal Egg-laying In Reptiles And Amphibians: Evolutionary Patterns And Hypotheses

Doody¹,

Freedberg²,

Keogh

2009

The Quarterly Review of Biology

116

140

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“…The females, as well as their offspring when reproductively fit, return to the same areas to nest for many consecutive years, a behavior referred to as nesting-site fidelity (Cott, 1961;Carr, 1967;Mazzotti, 1989;Leslie, 1997). In some cases, nesting sites can be occupied by more than one species of such reptiles as iguanids and crocodilians (Dugan et al, 1981;Bock and Rand, 1989). Similar patterns of nestsite fidelity have also been interpreted from nests constructed by Late Cretaceous dinosaurs (Horner, 1982).…”

Section: Bowl-shaped Depressions: Reptile Nest Holesmentioning

confidence: 80%

Vertebrate Burrows from Triassic and Jurassic Continental Deposits of North America and Antarctica: Their Paleoenvironmental and Paleoecological Significance

Hasiotis

Wellner

Martin

et al. 2004

Ichnos

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“…Food availability prior to breeding is not overly critical for these iguanines because they are able to accumulate and store nutrient reserves in their tails for many months prior to breeding (Burghardt and Rand 1982, van Marken Lichtenbelt 1993). Rather, food may be more critical for hatchlings, since hatching occurs at the onset of the rains when the soil is easy to dig through and new leaves are available as food for the young iguanas (Rand and Greene 1982, Snell and Tracy 1985, Bock and Rand 1989, van Marken Lichtenbelt and Albers 1993).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal Changes in Food Quality: A Proximate Cue for Reproductive Timing in Marine Iguanas

Rubenstein

Wikelski

2003

Ecology

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We investigated the proximate environmental cues that influence the timing of reproduction in the seasonally and synchronously breeding Galápagos marine iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus). Marine iguana foraging patterns are closely linked to the tidal cycle, and they feed exclusively on macroalgae. The Galápagos Islands are characterized by seasonal currents that impact water temperature and ultimately algal abundance, which is known to affect iguana body condition and survival. In our study, marine iguanas preferred Gelidium sp., which had the highest nutritional quality (nitrogen content, carbon content, and C:N ratio) of the three species of macroalgae on which they feed. Nutritional quality in Gelidium changed predictably with increasing sea surface temperature, peaking around the median iguana copulation date. Similarly, foraging behavior changed around the time copulations began. To test if consistent relationships existed among food quality, water temperature, and breeding life history, we used seven years of data from this population and found that breeding occurred earlier in years when the mean December sea surface temperature was warmer. Although iguanas might cue directly on changes in sea surface temperature, given the frequency and intensity of El Niñ o events in the Galápagos, this hypothesis is unlikely. Rather, our results suggest that marine iguanas may use subtle changes in food quality (particularly energy content) associated with seasonal, but annually variable, changes in water temperature as a cue to initiate breeding. The excess available energy may be used to withstand the costly breeding period, as well as to provision yolk to improve hatchling growth and survival.

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Factors Influencing Nesting Synchrony and Hatching Success at a Green Iguana Nesting Aggregation in Panama

Cited by 15 publications

References 16 publications

Communal Egg-laying In Reptiles And Amphibians: Evolutionary Patterns And Hypotheses

Communal Egg-laying In Reptiles And Amphibians: Evolutionary Patterns And Hypotheses

Vertebrate Burrows from Triassic and Jurassic Continental Deposits of North America and Antarctica: Their Paleoenvironmental and Paleoecological Significance

Seasonal Changes in Food Quality: A Proximate Cue for Reproductive Timing in Marine Iguanas

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