Data from: Incubation under climate warming affects learning ability and survival in hatchling lizards

Despite compelling evidence for substantial individual differences in cognitive performance, it is unclear whether cognitive ability influences fitness of wild animals. In many animals, environmental stressors experienced in utero can produce substantial variation in the cognitive abilities of offspring. In reptiles, incubation temperatures experienced by embryos can influence hatchling brain function and learning ability. Under climate warming, the eggs of some lizard species may experience higher temperatures, which could affect the cognitive abilities of hatchlings. Whether such changes in cognitive abilities influence the survival of hatchlings is unknown. To determine whether incubation-induced changes in spatial learning ability affect hatchling survival, we incubated velvet gecko, Amalosia lesueurii, eggs using two fluctuating temperature regimes to mimic current (cold) versus future (hot) nest temperatures. We measured the spatial learning ability of hatchlings from each treatment, and released individually marked animals at two field sites in southeastern Australia. Hatchlings from hot-incubated eggs were slower learners than hatchlings from cold-incubated eggs. Survival analyses revealed that hatchlings with higher learning scores had higher survival than hatchlings with poor learning scores. Our results show that incubation temperature affects spatial learning ability in hatchling lizards, and that such changes can influence the survival of hatchlings in the wild.

尽管已有大量确凿证据表明认知表现存在显著的个体差异，但目前尚不清楚认知能力是否会影响野生动物的适合度（fitness）。在许多动物类群中，胚胎发育期所经历的环境胁迫可对子代的认知能力产生显著影响。在爬行动物中，胚胎所经历的孵化温度会影响幼体的脑功能与学习能力。在气候变暖背景下，部分蜥蜴物种的卵可能会暴露于更高的温度环境中，这可能会影响幼体的认知能力。目前仍不清楚这类认知能力的变化是否会影响幼体的存活情况。为探明孵化诱导的空间学习能力变化是否会影响幼体存活，我们采用两种波动温度模式对丝绒壁虎（Amalosia lesueurii）的卵进行孵化，以模拟当前（低温）与未来（高温）的巢温环境。我们测定了各处理组幼体的空间学习能力，并将带有个体标记的幼体放归至澳大利亚东南部的两个野外样地。结果显示，经高温孵化的幼体相较于低温孵化的幼体，学习速度更为缓慢。存活分析表明，学习成绩更优的幼体存活率显著高于学习能力较差的幼体。本研究结果证实，孵化温度会影响幼体蜥蜴的空间学习能力，且这类变化可对野生环境下幼体的存活产生显著影响。