Effects of air temperature and soil moisture on the brooding behavior of the five-lined skink, Eumeces fasciatus

Parental care in the Class Reptilia is generally considered to be rare. However lizards in the genus Eumeces (Family Scincidae) are a group of species in which females possess extensive behavioral adaptations that allow them to provide for their young. Females of virtually every species of Eumeces either give birth to live young or brood their eggs until hatching. It has been suggested that brooding females are behaviorally monitoring and maintaining the microclimate of the nest. The first purpose of this study was to describe the behavioral components of brooding exhibited by females of the fivelined skink, E.fasciatus, from eastern Tennessee and to compare the frequency of these components under different temperature and moisture conditions. Second, moisture preferences of gravid and non-gravid adult females were compared to determine if a shift in reproductive status corresponds to a shift in microhabitat preference. There was no significant difference in any of the behavioral variables between two temperature and two moisture treatments. In addition these variables did not seem to change significantly over the course of the brooding period. Non-gravid and gravid females did not exhibit a significant preference for soil moisture. These results are inconsistent with the conclusions drawn in other studies of the brooding behavior of this species and other closely related species. This may be because other analyses of brooding behavior in, Eumeces have focused on species (or populations of E.fasciatus) that inhabit regions that are drier than the southeast United States. However, the discrepancies could also be due to differences in the way brooding behaviors were quantified and to problems associated with small sample sizes. Further analysis of the variability of brooding behavior across the geographic range of E.fasciatus is necessary to provide a clear understanding of the adaptive significance of this behavior for different populations.