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Journal of Experimental Biology 108,195-204 (1984)
Published by Company of Biologists 1984

Influence of Hydration of the Environment on the Pattern of Nitrogen Excretion by Embryonic Snapping Turtles (Chelydra Serpentina)

GARY C. PACKARD ¹, MARY J. PACKARD ¹, and THOMAS J. BOARDMAN ¹

¹ Department of Zoology and Entomology and Department of Statistics, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, U.S.A.

Flexible-shelled eggs of common snapping turtles were incubated on wet and dry substrates. More than 70% of the waste nitrogen accumulating in eggs on both substrates was in the form of urea, and less than 25% was in the form of ammonia. Low levels of soluble urate were detected in eggs late in incubation, but insoluble urate was never present. Accumulation of ammonia and soluble urate was unaffected by the hydration of the environment, but more urea accumulated late in incubation in eggs on the wet substrate than in those on the dry substrate. Thus, embryos are ureotelic throughout development, and the pattern of accumulation of the primary nitrogenous waste is influenced by hydration of the environment.

Key words: Embryos, excretion, turtles

Accepted on July 18, 1983