Researchers found that turtles communicate with each other before hatching

Researchers found that turtles communicate with each other before hatching

A study conducted by researchers from University of Western Study have found that baby turtles can communicate with each other before they hatch and can arrange to come out from their
eggs at the same time.

A team of scientists assisted by Dr Ricky Spencer studied Murray short-necked turtle in Australia and found that the embryos synchronised their hatching to prevent smaller turtles emerging
alone and being attacked by predators such as goannas and foxes.

They believe that the un-hatched turtles, lying enclosed in a tight nest, might sense the heart vibrations of each other or may detect gases that emit from the breath of other turtles.
More developed turtles, in this way, can send signals on their growth status to less developed ones to encourage them to increase their growth rates.

Speaking to the media about their study, Dr Ricky Spencer said, “I am pretty sure they’re not sitting there chatting to each other but no one really knows. They might be cueing in on heart
rates. They are all touching each other within the nests so there might be vibrations there.”

He added, “A nest environment is pretty much an enclosed cavity where gas exchange might be a cue as well … They breathe, so if you get increases in carbon dioxide within a nest they
might be cueing on in that.”

The researchers told that embryos positioned at the bottom of the nest have some kind of a catch-up mechanism, which allows them to overcome their longer incubation periods. Meanwhile,
the precise nature of the mechanism remains unknown.

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Posted by Zeeshan Gohar on Dec 1 2011. Filed under Sci-Tech. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry