title: Nesting of Morelet's crocodile, Crocodylus moreletii (Dumeril and Bibron), in Los Tuxtlas, Mexico.
abstract: We evaluated the nesting by Crocodylus moreletii in Lago de Catemaco, Veracruz, southeastern, Mexico. During the nesting and hatching seasons, we searched for nests along the northern margins of the lake and small associated streams. We investigated egg mortality by weekly monitoring each of the nests found, recording sign of predation (tracks and holes dug into the nest) and the effect of water level fluctuations. We not found differences to nest between inland or flooded zones. However, we found that egg size varied among nests. In nests built inland, predation was the major cause of egg mortality whereas flooding resulted in more deaths of eggs in the flooding zone. Flooding killed 25% of eggs monitored in this study. We suggest that to increase nest success in the Morelet's crocodile it is necessary to promote conservation of nesting areas around the lake, recently occupied by urban or tourist developments.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Producción Agrícola y Animal, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Unidad Xochimilco, Calzada del Hueso, 1100, Col. Villa Quietud, Del. Coyoacán, CP 04960, Ciudad de México, México.|Departamento de Zoología, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, CP 04510, Ciudad de México, México.|Departamento de Biología Comparada, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, CP 04510, Ciudad de México, México.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Villegas
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Producción Agrícola y Animal, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Unidad Xochimilco, Calzada del Hueso, 1100, Col. Villa Quietud, Del. Coyoacán, CP 04960, Ciudad de México, México.
authors.forename: G D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Mendoza
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ecología, Universidad del Mar, Campus Puerto Escondido, Ciudad Universitaria, CP 71980, Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, México.
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Arcos-García
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Zoología, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, CP 04510, Ciudad de México, México.
authors.forename: V H
authors.initials: VH
authors.lastname: Reynoso
mesh_terms: D000489:Alligators and Crocodiles / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D060106:Lakes; D008800:Mexico; D009425:Nesting Behavior; D045483:Rivers