by
LiveScience Staff
Date:
06 February 2013 Time: 05:21 PM ET
Pregnant
turtles hit the pause button on their eggs' development until the time is just
right to lay them in a nest, researchers say. The careful moms do this by
producing a gooey substance in their reproductive tracts that cuts oxygen to
the embryos, a study shows.
Female
turtles must be choosy about when and where they lay their delicate eggs to
make sure food resources are available and environmental conditions are safe.
"After
an egg is laid, the membrane inside the egg connects and so the egg can't be
turned at all or the young will die," study researcher Anthony Rafferty,
of Australia's Monash University, said in a statement.
Continue
reading: http://www.livescience.com/26917-turtle-eggs-development.html
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