CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

In oviparous animals, mothers can influence offspring phenotypes throughresource allocation to eggs. Maternal effects mediated by egg´s quality may affectoffspring performance, and mothers may adjust egg traits according to environmentalinfluences. We have evaluated influence of climatic variables and body and physiologicalcondition of Caiman latirostris reproductive females, and their relationship with eggschemical characteristics (yolk Fatty Acids, FA), hatching success and hatchling phenotype.Fourteen females were captured defending their nests. We recorded: body (Scaled MassIndex) and physiological conditions (muscle and blood samples). For every nest, onegroup of eggs was derived for chemical analysis and other for incubation. Precipitationand temperature of March-April (previous reproductive season) and SeptemberOctober-November-December (prior to the oviposition) were obtained. We found thateggs of female with better body condition, presented higher proportion of C20:4, totalpolyunsaturated (PUFA) and low 18:2, and were associated with higher hatching success.Low PUFAs percentage in females muscle were related to better female body conditionand offspring´s weight, giving indications that these FA were mobilized and invested bythe female in the egg. Also, egg´s C18:2 content was positively correlated with that of thematernal muscle tissue, which in turn is positively associated to minimum temperaturesof September. These temperatures are negatively associated with local rainfall of monthsin which vitellogenesis occurs, indicating that females would be consuming dietary itemsthat contribute high content of this essential FA. Therefore, it would be advantageous formaternal investment, years where the local rainfall of the months in which vitellogenesisoccurs is abundant because they have access to a greater diversity of prey items, to beable to invest quality resources to their progeny favoring reproductive success

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