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

CARLOS I. PIÑA, PABLO SIROSKI , ALEJANDRO LARRIERA , VALENTINE LANCE. LUCIANO M. VERDADE

AMPHIBIA-REPTILIA

BRILL ACADEMIC PUBLISHERS

Lugar: Leiden; Año: 2007 vol. 28 p. 123 - 128

0173-5373

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.