Keywords :
nest attendance,
pit viper,
nest site,
clutch size body,
temperature,
parental care
บทคัดย่อ :
The function of egg attendance in pit vipers is understudied and
poorly understood. Temperature sensitive radio telemetry was used to study
nesting behavior and body temperature in a free ranging, female
Calloselasma rhodostoma, which laid and attended a clutch of three eggs at a
location in northeast Thailand. Oviposition occurred between 11 and 24
August, 2004 and all eggs had hatched by October 12, 2004 (incubation
period = 49-62 days). The small clutch size was probably due to small
maternal body size. The nest site was a rock crevice on a rocky, north facing
slope, in mature deciduous dipterocarp forest. The female apparently
remained coiled around the eggs for the entire incubation period with an
average body temperature (Tb) of 27.1 C (SD=1.61, range 23.7 to 30.4,
n=60). Maternal Tb was slightly higher (1.5 C) than that of an operative
temperature model in a similar, nearby microhabitat, suggesting an
occurrence of a small amount of maternal thermogenesis. The female fed
once during incubation and underwent ecdysis at or near the time the eggs
hatched. Little parental care was observed beyond the time of hatching.
เอกสารอ้างอิง :
Hill Iii, J. G., Chanhome, L., Artchawakom, T., Thirakhupt, K., & Voris, H. K. (2006). Nest attendance by a female Malayan pit viper (Calloselasma rhodostoma) in northeast Thailand. Tropical Natural History, 6(2), 57-66.
