Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

2020

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Salmon, Michael

Abstract

The goal of this study was to determine if hatching synchrony occurs in loggerhead sea turtle nests and if it does, what mechanism(s) promote that synchrony. Synchrony may occur because oviposition takes place during a single evening, and because incubation temperatures within the nest show relatively little variation; thus, rates of embryonic development among the eggs are similar ("temporal synchrony hypothesis"). Alternatively, synchrony might be enhanced through embryo-to-embryo communication that stimulates and synchronizes development ("coordinated hatching hypothesis"). Experiments were designed to distinguish between these two hypotheses. I found that if only a few embryos survive, temporal synchrony occurs. However, if many embryos survive, the duration of incubation and hatching shortens, presumably because embryonic movements inside soft-shelled eggs are detected by and transmitted between eggs and stimulate development, expediting hatching synchrony.

Extent

50 p.

Comments

Includes bibliography.|Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2020.|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Includes bibliography.

Identifier

FA00013505

Format

pdf

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