A project undertaken at the University of Canberra, and supervised by Sarah Whiteley
Many animals are sensitive to different environmental conditions, which can influence their survival in the wild. This is particularly true for “cold-blooded” animals like reptiles, as the temperatures they experience throughout their life can have dramatic effects. When a female reptile lays her eggs, the embryos inside are at the mercy of the temperatures they experience as they develop. These temperatures can influence critical traits, like whether the embryo develops as a male or female, and brain characteristics that influence behaviour after they hatch. Since temperature underpins so many important traits in these animals, it can significantly influence on how well animals can adapt and survive in challenging environments.
Figure 1.
As the global climate continues to warm, alongside other human-induced environmental changes, survival for many species is becoming increasingly difficult. This is particularly true for reptiles, which may be at greater risk of declines and extinctions because of their environmental sensitivity.
Figure 2.
In this project, we are using the model reptile species, the central bearded dragon, to better understand how temperature influences brain development and behaviour as these traits influence survival in wild populations. In this species, under normal temperature conditions, embryos develop as either males or females and go on to display typical sex-specific behaviours. However, if exposed to high temperatures during development, males can reverse their sex and instead develop as females. Known as sex reversed females, these individuals have different characteristics compared to typical males and females.
Figure 3.
We will incubate eggs from the dragon at different temperatures and analyse how brain development is altered by temperature both in embryos and in animals after they have hatched. In a first for reptiles, we will integrate data on behavioural characteristics with brain traits to understand the relationship between behavioural and temperature induced brain differences. The findings from this project will bring new understanding to the complex interactions between temperature and development in reptiles, and how they may be able to respond to these environmental pressures.