page_title: Broodiness
section_title: Broodiness in non-avian animals
hierarchical_section_title: Broodiness / Broodiness in non-avian animals
caption_attribution_description: English: Female Northern African Rock Python (Python sebae) brooding eggs at Tropicario - The Tropical Animal House, Helsinki, Finland. This picture is a donation of Tropicario, Finland (J. Lanki) www.tropicario.com Deutsch: Nördlichens Felsenpython-Weibchen (Python sebae) bebrütet sein Gelege im Tropicario - dem tropischen Reptilenhaus, Helsinki, Finnland. Dieses Foto ist eine Spende des Tropicario, Finnland (J. Lanki) www.tropicario.com Français&#160;: Femelle Python de Seba couvant ses œufs à Tropicario, La maison des animaux tropicaux, Helsinki, Finlande Cette image est un don de Tropicario, Finlande (J. Lanki) www.tropicario.com
context_page_description: Broodiness is the action or behavioral tendency to sit on a clutch of eggs to incubate them, often requiring the non-expression of many other behaviors including feeding and drinking. Being broody has been defined as "Being in a state of readiness to brood eggs that is characterized by cessation of laying and by marked changes in behavior and physiology". Broody birds often pluck feathers from their chest and abdomen, using them to cover the eggs. As a consequence of this, they develop one or several patches of bare skin on the ventral surface. These reddish, well-vascularized areas of skin are usually called brood patches, and improve heat transfer to the eggs. Broodiness is usually associated with female birds, although males of some bird species become broody and some non-avian animals also show broodiness.
context_section_description: There is some evidence that non-avian dinosaurs also practiced brooding. A specimen of the Mongolian oviraptorid Citipati osmolskae was discovered in a chicken-like brooding position in 1993, which may indicate that they had begun using an insulating layer of feathers to keep the eggs warm.
  Several deinonychosaur and oviraptorosaur specimens have also been found preserved on top of their nests, likely brooding in a bird-like manner.
  Lungless salamanders in the family Plethodontidae lay a small number of eggs in a cluster among damp leaf litter. The female salamander often broods the eggs and in the genus Ensatinas, she has been observed to coil around them and press her throat area against them, effectively massaging them with a mucous secretion.  The black mountain salamander mother broods her eggs, guarding them from predation as the larvae feed on the yolks of their eggs. They eventually break their way out of the egg capsules and disperse. Some species of Gymnophiona (caecilians, with long, cylindrical, limbless bodies) brood their eggs.
  Most pythons coil around their egg-clutches and remain with them until they hatch. A female python will not leave the eggs, except to occasionally bask in the sun or drink water. She will even “shiver” to generate heat to incubate the eggs.
  Some cichlid fish lay their eggs in the open, on rocks, leaves, or logs.  Male and female parents usually engage in differing brooding roles. Most commonly, the male patrols the pair's territory and repels intruders, while females fan water over the eggs, removing the infertile and leading the fry while foraging. However, both sexes are able to perform the full range of parenting behaviours.
caption: A brooding female python.
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