Embryonic Death Is Linked to Maternal Identity in the Leatherback Turtle (Dermochelys coriacea)

Leatherback turtles have an average global hatching success rate of ∼50%, lower than other marine turtle species. Embryonic death has been linked to environmental factors such as precipitation and temperature, although, there is still a lot of variability that remains to be explained. We examined how nesting season, the time of nesting each season, the relative position of each clutch laid by each female each season, maternal identity and associated factors such as reproductive experience of the female (new nester versus remigrant) and period of egg retention between clutches (interclutch interval) affected hatching success and stage of embryonic death in failed eggs of leatherback turtles nesting at Playa Grande, Costa Rica. Data were collected during five nesting seasons from 2004/05 to 2008/09. Mean hatching success was 50.4%. Nesting season significantly influenced hatching success in addition to early and late stage embryonic death. Neither clutch position nor nesting time during the season had a significant affect on hatching success or the stage of embryonic death. Some leatherback females consistently produced nests with higher hatching success rates than others. Remigrant females arrived earlier to nest, produced more clutches and had higher rates of hatching success than new nesters. Reproductive experience did not affect stage of death or the duration of the interclutch interval. The length of interclutch interval had a significant affect on the proportion of eggs that failed in each clutch and the developmental stage they died at. Intrinsic factors such as maternal identity are playing a role in affecting embryonic death in the leatherback turtle

Cars by Buffalo Bayou

Cars along road that runs by the side of Buffalo Bayou in River Oaks

Sugar Land farm scene

Feeding the cattle on a Sugar Land farm

[Azteca Theater]

Photograph of people at the Azteca Theater

Swimmers in a Houston area bayou

Bathers enjoying a swim in one of Houston's bayous

People in corn field

Woman and two children standing in a corn field in Aldine, Texas.Aldine is a community north of Houston, Texas

Train

Train speeding through an industrial part of Houston, Texas

Goose Creek oil fields

Oil fields on Goose Creek near Baytown, Texas in 1917.The first offshore drilling for oil in Texas occurred along Goose Creek in southeast Harris County, twenty-one miles southeast of Houston on Galveston Bay. In 1903 John I. Gaillard noticed bubbles popping to the surface of the water at the point where the creek empties into the bay. With a match he confirmed that the bubbles were natural gas, a strong indication of oil deposits. Royal Matthews leased the Gaillard property and drilled for 2½ years but could not bring in a continuously producing well. Not until a Houston-based syndicate, Goose Creek Production Company, drilled on the marsh of the bay was oil found, on June 2, 1908, at 1,600 feet. The Goose Creek field reached its peak annual production of 8,923,635 barrels with onshore and offshore drilling by 1918. By the 1990s total production of the field's lifetime stood at 140,644,377 barrels. Since Goose Creek oilfield was a prospective long-term producer, Humble constructed its major refinery, which was completed by April 21, 1921, adjacent to the field and named the plant and townsite Baytown. The Goose Creek field is a deep-seated salt dome with overlying beds slightly arched; its discovery spurred exploration for deep-seated domes, and led to the discovery of some of the largest oilfields in the United States. (From Handbook of Texas Online

Banking quarter of Lumbermans National Bank

Banking Quarters of Lumbermans National Bank