Escape hatching:

a behavioral response to snake attack

LEFT: Infrared video recording showing parts of two snake attacks on red-eyed treefrog egg clutches. The first is an attack by a parrot snake, Leptophis ahaetulla.The device in the clutch is an accelerometer, used to record vibrations. The vibration recording from this attack is shown below. The second is an attack on a different egg clutch by a cat-eyed snake, Leptodeira annulata. Notice the difference in feeding behavior of the two species of snakes. Embryos escape from both types of attack with about an 80% success rate.

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• How do the embryos know when to hatch? Find out more.