Both incubation temperature and posthatching temperature affect swimming performance and morphology of wood frog tadpoles (Rana sylvatica)

In many oviparous vertebrates, hatchling phenotypes are influenced by egg incubation temperature. Many of those phenotypic traits can also acclimate to long-term thermal conditions of juveniles and adults, yet the interactive effects of prehatching and posthatching temperatures on phenotypes have not been studied. To address such interaction, we incubated eggs of wood frogs (Rana sylvatica) at two temperatures and subsequently reared larvae at three temperatures in a fully factorial design. We measured body size, size-independent morphology, and burst swimming speed at one developmental stage. Body size was independent of egg temperature but decreased significantly with increasing larval temperature. Size-independent morphology depended in complex ways on both temperature treatments directly and on their interaction. Burst speed was not influenced directly by egg temperature but was influenced by larval temperature and by the interactions among egg temperature, larval temperature, and test temperature. Our results indicate pervasive effects of egg temperature even late in the larval period and show that prehatching and posthatching temperatures can interact to affect various phenotypic traits. Tadpoles may be able to alter the long-term effects of incubation temperature by choosing particular larval developmental temperatures. Thus, the importance of incubation temperature in oviparous vertebrates should be evaluated by considering the effects of posthatching temperatures.