How incubation temperature influences the physiology and growth of embryonic lizards

Eggs of two small Australian lizards, Lampropholis guichenoti and Bassiana duperreyi, were incubated to hatching at 25 degrees C and 30 degrees C. Inc ubation periods were significantly longer at 25 degrees C in both species, and temperature had a greater effect on the incubation period of B. duperre yi (41.0 days at 25 degrees C; 23.1 days at 30 degrees C) than L. guichenot i (40.1 days at 25 degrees C; 27.7 days at 30 degrees C). patterns of oxyge n consumption were similar in both species at both temperatures, being: sig moidal in shape with a fall in the rate of oxygen consumption just prior to hatching. The higher incubation temperature resulted in higher peak and hi gher prehatch rates of oxygen consumption in both species. Total amount of oxygen consumed during incubation was independent of temperature in B. dupe rreyi, in which approximately 50 mi oxygen was consumed at both temperature s, but eggs of L. guichenoti incubated at 30 degrees C consumed significant ly more (32.6 mi) than eggs incubated at 25 degrees C (28.5 mi). Hatchling mass was unaffected by either incubation temperature or the amount of water absorbed by eggs during incubation in both species. The energetic producti on cost of hatchling B. duperreyi (3.52 kJ . g(-1)) was independent of incu bation temperature, whereas in L. guichenoti the production cost was greate r at 30 degrees C (4.00 kJ . g(-1)) than at 25 degrees C (3.47 kJ . g(-1)). Snout-vent lengths and mass of hatchlings were unaffected by incubation te mperature in both species, but hatchling B. duperreyi incubated at 30 degre es C had longer rails (29.3 mm) than those from eggs incubated at 25 degree s C (26.2 mm), These results indicate that incubation temperature can affec t the quality of hatchling lizards in terms of embryonic energy consumption and hatchling morphology.