"Facultative viviparity" (live birth) in tortoises

[jcase]

Bit click bait-ish, not really live birth but almost?.

The claim is that the tortoise retained eggs due to unusually hot weather, and laid them on the surface of the ground just days before they hatched. I say claim because i wonder if these were just eggs from a missed nest that some predator dug up but abandoned instead of eating.

Too Hot to Nest? In a Hot Summer the Tortoise Chersina angulata Can Switch From Nesting to Facultative Viviparity

In a captive colony of Chersina angulata in Cape Town, South Africa, we observed in 2015/16 retention of the last egg clutch inside the female until the hatching stage was reached, conforming to the generally accepted definition of viviparity. Retrospective climatic analysis indicates egg...

www.frontiersin.org

@zovick thoughts on this?

 

[Markw84]

Bit click bait-ish, not really live birth but almost?.

The claim is that the tortoise retained eggs due to unusually hot weather, and laid them on the surface of the ground just days before they hatched. I say claim because i wonder if these were just eggs from a missed nest that some predator dug up but abandoned instead of eating.

Too Hot to Nest? In a Hot Summer the Tortoise Chersina angulata Can Switch From Nesting to Facultative Viviparity

In a captive colony of Chersina angulata in Cape Town, South Africa, we observed in 2015/16 retention of the last egg clutch inside the female until the hatching stage was reached, conforming to the generally accepted definition of viviparity. Retrospective climatic analysis indicates egg...

www.frontiersin.org

@zovick thoughts on this?

This has been reported and discussed before regarding Chersina only. I don't know if it was on the forum or personal conversation with @Sterant but it is well documented that this does happen with this species.

 

[zovick]

Bit click bait-ish, not really live birth but almost?.

The claim is that the tortoise retained eggs due to unusually hot weather, and laid them on the surface of the ground just days before they hatched. I say claim because i wonder if these were just eggs from a missed nest that some predator dug up but abandoned instead of eating.

Too Hot to Nest? In a Hot Summer the Tortoise Chersina angulata Can Switch From Nesting to Facultative Viviparity

In a captive colony of Chersina angulata in Cape Town, South Africa, we observed in 2015/16 retention of the last egg clutch inside the female until the hatching stage was reached, conforming to the generally accepted definition of viviparity. Retrospective climatic analysis indicates egg...

www.frontiersin.org

@zovick thoughts on this?

Like Markw84, I have heard this previously myself. I do not, however, have any firsthand knowledge or even reliable hearsay that this truly happens.

Dan Sterantino @Sterant may know more about this than I do. Let's see if he will comment later.