Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia, 86(2), June 2003 
et al. 1996; Thompson in press). Such exposure, even in a 
burrow, would increase the likelihood of desiccation if 
burrow humidity were low. Manipulation of an egg 
clutch by the female after deposition has frequently been 
reported (see Shine 1988 for summary). Therefore it is 
not unreasonable to suggest that urination over the clutch 
may compensate for poor egg position and exposure to 
air that might otherwise increase egg desiccation. 
Such a contribution toward an increase in offspring 
fitness comes at a cost to the adult. The potential cost 
paid by the female thorny devil following a contribution 
to clutch hydration is obviously its survival costs 
associated with increased water loss. However, these 
costs are likely to be low, as the thorny devil employs an 
extremely efficient hygroscopic technique for water 
acquisition (Bentley and Blumer 1962; Withers 1993), and 
is probably able to rehydrate relatively quickly after 
hydrating its clutch, provided water was available. 
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