As sand temperatures continue to rise, concerns about the future of sea turtles are growing. Hotter nests not only skew sex ratios – producing more females – but also reduce hatchling survival, slow growth, and increase the likelihood of physical deformities.
As sand temperatures continue to rise, concerns about the future of sea turtles are growing. Hotter nests not only skew sex ratios – producing more females – but also reduce hatchling survival, slow growth, and increase the likelihood of physical deformities. Yet one important and often overlooked question remains: does this heat also affect cognitive ability – how well hatchlings can learn, adapt and respond to the rapidly changing world they face from the moment they emerge?
A new study by researchers at Florida Atlantic University’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Science offers a surprising glimmer of hope. They are the first to test whether incubation temperature affects cognitive ability in loggerhead (Caretta caretta) hatchlings – how well they can learn, adapt and problem-solve. While animal cognition has been widely studied in birds and mammals, much is yet to be discovered in reptiles.
Using a Y-maze and a visual discrimination task, the researchers trained hatchlings incubated at two female-producing temperatures (88 F and a hotter 91 F) and then tested their ability to “reverse train” when the task rules changed. Eggs were collected during the summers of 2019 and 2020 from nesting beaches in Palm Beach County.
Read more at: Florida Atlantic University
Two loggerhead hatchlings from different temperature treatments clearly shows the effect of temperature on their body size. (Photo Credit: Ivana Lezcano, Florida Atlantic University)
