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Temperature and moisture influence the development of embryonic reptiles in the laboratory but the importance of these variables to embryos developing in nature is a topic of debate. We measured temperature and water potential in 12 nests of painted turtles, Chrysemys picta, and subsequently assessed the influence of these factors on survival by embryos, net change in mass of eggs, length of incubation, and live mass and body size of hatchlings. Average temperature in nests varied between 23.4 and 26.2 °C, and average water potential ranged from − 0.06 MPa to − 2.11 MPa. Hatching success varied from 33 to 100%, and was correlated more highly with the water potential in nests than with temperature
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Cagle et al. (1993) studied this question.
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