Why are the eggs of alligators in the wild more likely to hatch than those of farmed-raised gators? Ashley Picou Mikolajczyk is studying alligator egg yolks to find out.
小蝌蚪APP淚n the wild, a fertilized egg is almost guaranteed to hatch,小蝌蚪APP she said. Studies suggest that about 95 percent of eggs hatch in the wild, compared to about 50 percent among captive animals.
Mikolajczyk, who小蝌蚪APP檚 pursuing a doctorate in chemical engineering, is comparing the fatty-acid profiles of eggs laid in the wild with those from captive alligators.
She measures a gram of yolk from each egg and uses a gas chromotography/mass spectrometry machine to separate the fatty acids. The machine forces the yolk sample through a narrow tube 小蝌蚪APP roughly the diameter of a sewing needle 小蝌蚪APP and breaks the material into its molecular components. It then 小蝌蚪APP渞eads小蝌蚪APP the molecular chains of fatty acids.
In addition to comparing egg yolks from wild and captive animals, she is also comparing eggs from two groups of farm-raised alligators. One group was fed typical commercial food, the other was given commercial food fortified with fish oil.
小蝌蚪APP淚小蝌蚪APP檓 trying to determine whether there is a statistical difference that may indicate whether the enhanced food improved hatch rates,小蝌蚪APP she explained.
The development of better commercial food could improve hatch rates for farmers and be used in the conservation of related species that are threatened and/or endangered, such as some crocodiles.