Data from: Incubation temperature influences survival in a small passerine bird

In birds parental incubation behaviour is an important factor shaping the environmental conditions under which the embryos develop, and sub-optimal incubation temperatures are known to negatively affect early growth and development. It is less well known if variation in incubation temperature can impose life-long differences in individual performance and survival. In the present study we investigated the effects of incubation temperature on long-term survival in a small passerine bird. Using our captive population of the zebra finch Taeniopygia guttata we artificially incubated eggs at three biologically relevant temperatures (35.9, 37.0 and 37.9°C) for two-thirds of the incubation period and then monitored individual lifespan of the hatched chicks for two and a half years. We found that individuals from eggs incubated under the lowest temperature exhibited significantly lower long-term survival compared to those which had been incubated at the highest temperature. Our results show that incubation temperature in birds, and thus parental incubation behaviour, play an important role in shaping the life-history trajectories of offspring.在鸟类中，亲本孵育行为是塑造胚胎发育所处环境条件的关键因素，而非最适孵育温度已被证实会对早期生长与发育产生负面影响。目前学界对于孵育温度的差异是否会导致个体表现与存活能力出现终生差异仍知之甚少。本研究以小型雀形目鸟类为对象，探究了孵育温度对其长期存活的影响。我们利用圈养的斑胸草雀（Taeniopygia guttata）种群，将其卵在占孵育期三分之二的时段内，分别置于35.9℃、37.0℃与37.9℃这三个符合生物学意义的温度下进行人工孵育，并对孵化出的雏鸟的个体寿命开展了长达两年半的监测。研究结果显示，相较于在最高温度下孵育的个体，经最低温度孵育的卵所发育出的个体，其长期存活率显著更低。本研究结果表明，鸟类的孵育温度——亦即亲本孵育行为——在塑造后代的生活史轨迹中发挥着重要作用。