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Respiration and metabolism of embryonic vertebrates pp 99–119Cite as

Coupling of physiology of embryonic turtles to the hydric environment

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Part of the book series: Perspectives in vertebrate science ((PIVS,volume 3))

Abstract

Embryonic turtles developing in flexible-shelled eggs consume more of their yolk and grow larger before hatching when incubated in relatively wet environments than they do when incubated in relatively dry settings. These differences in size of young result from differences in rates of embryonic metabolism and growth in some species and from differences in duration of incubation in others. However, neither the specific physical factor eliciting the responses nor the underlying physiological mechanism has been established unequivocally for any species. Because embryos in relatively wet environments have different patterns of net water-exchange than do embryos in drier settings, most attention has been directed at means by which such exchanges could influence their physiology. Water exchanges may exercise control over oxidative metabolism by altering bulk water in cytoplasm of cells of growing animals, by affecting concentrations of urea in body fluids of embryos, by influencing growth of the allantois, and, indirectly, by affecting incubation temperature; water fluxes may influence duration of incubation via effects on water potential in compartments such as the yolk. However, the evidence to support these hypotheses is fragmentary, and no single mechanism is applicable to all species studied to date.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology and Entomology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, 80523, USA

    Gary C. Packard & Mary J. Packard

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  1. Gary C. Packard
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  2. Mary J. Packard
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  1. Department of Zoology, University of Adelaide, G.P.O. Box 498, 5001, Adelaide, S.A., Australia

    Roger S. Seymour

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© 1984 Dr W. Junk Publishers, Dordrecht

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Packard, G.C., Packard, M.J. (1984). Coupling of physiology of embryonic turtles to the hydric environment. In: Seymour, R.S. (eds) Respiration and metabolism of embryonic vertebrates. Perspectives in vertebrate science, vol 3. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-6536-2_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-6536-2_7

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