Stressful environments in utero can have a profound influence on cognitive functions and learning ability. In lizards, thermal environments experienced by embryos can shape a range of traits, including sex, body size, and locomotor performance, which may influence fitness. Recent studies suggest that incubation temperatures may also influence brain development and learning ability of some lizard species. Therefore, predicted increases in nest temperatures of lizards may not only affect hatchling morphology and performance, but could also affect their learning ability. To investigate how incubation temperatures influence cognitive abilities of hatchlings, we incubated eggs of the velvet gecko, Amalosia lesueurii, under two fluctuating temperature regimes. The warm treatment mimicked the thermal profiles of currently used partly shaded communal nests (mean = 24.3 °C, range 18.4–31.1 °C), and the hot treatment simulated thermal profiles that could be experienced in sun-exposed nests in 2050 (mean = 28.9 °C, range 19.1–38.1 °C). At age three to four weeks, we measured the ability of hatchlings to locate an open shelter in a Y-maze choice test. Both hot and warm-incubated hatchlings successfully learned the task, but hatchlings from the warm-temperature treatment learned the task faster, and made fewer mistakes in the first five trials than hot-incubated hatchlings. These patterns were consistent for hatchlings from two geographic locations, suggesting that thermally stressful conditions in utero may alter the learning abilities of hatchling lizards. Because learning ability can affect the survival of hatchling velvet geckos, future increase in nest temperatures may have wide reaching impacts on populations.

中文翻译：

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孵化温度对孵化天鹅绒壁虎学习能力的影响。

子宫内的压力环境可能会对认知功能和学习能力产生深远影响。在蜥蜴中，胚胎所经历的热环境可以塑造一系列性状，包括性别，体型和运动能力，这可能会影响健康。最近的研究表明，孵化温度也可能影响某些蜥蜴物种的大脑发育和学习能力。因此，预测的蜥蜴巢温升高不仅会影响孵化的形态和性能，而且还会影响其学习能力。为了研究孵化温度如何影响幼虫的认知能力，我们孵化了天鹅绒壁虎卵，Amalosia lesueurii卵，在两个波动的温度范围内。温暖的处理模仿了当前使用的部分阴影的公共巢穴的热量分布（平均值= 24.3°C，范围18.4–31.1°C），而热处理模拟了2050年暴露在阳光下的巢穴中的热量分布（平均值= 28.9°C，范围19.1–38.1°C）。在三到四周大的时候，我们在Y型迷宫选择测试中测量了孵化器定位开放式避难所的能力。热孵化和热孵化的孵化器都成功地学会了该任务，但是温热处理的孵化器学会了该任务的速度更快，并且在前五次试验中比热孵化的孵化器犯了更少的错误。这些模式对于来自两个地理位置的幼体是一致的，表明子宫内的热应激条件可能会改变幼体蜥蜴的学习能力。