Burmese python mothers shiver to heat their eggs in wild Florida nest

A Burmese python guarding a clutch of eggs may appear to be doing little more than lying tightly coiled around them. In fact, the female can play an active role in controlling the temperature inside the nest. When conditions become too cool, muscles along her body begin contracting rapidly, producing heat that raises her own temperature and helps warm the eggs. The behaviour has been known from controlled observations, but a later field study captured it in a wild Burmese python nest in Florida. Temperature loggers placed around the nest recorded changes in the conditions surrounding the female, while video provided a direct record of her shivering movements.Burmese python mothers stay coiled around their eggs for two monthsBurmese python females remain with their eggs throughout incubation, a period that lasts roughly two months. During this time, the female does not feed. Her body instead remains wrapped around the clutch, creating a close physical barrier between the eggs and the surrounding environment.That arrangement does more than keep the eggs together. The female's own body can influence the temperature they experience. Earlier measurements of a brooding Burmese python sho...