Maternal Thermal Effects on Female Reproduction and Hatchling Phenotype in the Chinese Skink (Plestiodon chinensis)</i>

We maintained gravid Chinese skinks (Plestiodon chinensis) at three constant temperatures (25, 28 and 31 °C) during gestation, and randomly assigned eggs from each female to one of the same three temperatures for incubation to determine maternal thermal effects on female reproduction and hatchling phenotype. Maternal temperature affected egg-laying date, hatching success and hatchling linear size (snout-vent length, SVL) but not clutch size, egg size, egg component, and embryonic stage at laying. More specifically, females at higher temperatures laid eggs earlier than did those at low temperatures, eggs laid at 31 °C were less likely to hatch than those laid at 25 °C or 28 °C, and hatchlings from eggs laid at 31 °C were smaller in SVL. Our finding that maternal temperature (pre-ovipositional thermal condition) rather than incubation temperature (post-ovipositional thermal condition) affected hatching success indicated that embryos at early stages were more vulnerable to temperature than those at late stages. Our data provide an inference that moderate maternal temperatures enhance reproductive fitness in P. chinensis