Reproductive ecology of the painted turtle (Chrysemys picta marginata) in southwestern Quebec

1986 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 914-920 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elaine Christens ◽  
J. Roger Bider
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Clutch Size ◽  
Egg Size ◽  
Reproductive Ecology ◽  
Substantial Reduction ◽  
Chrysemys Picta ◽  
Painted Turtle ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Painted Turtles ◽  
Old Females

The reproductive ecology of painted turtles (Chrysemys picta marginata) was studied over 3 years (1983–1985) in southwestern Quebec. We used X-ray photography to determine clutch size, egg size, and clutch frequency in conjunction with radiotelemetry to determine when and where the eggs were being deposited. Data on nesting frequency indicated that between 40 and 80% of the 7- to 11-year-old females reproduce each year. All females > 11 years of age reproduced each year and exhibited a substantial reduction in growth compared with younger adult females. The percentage of those females that layed two clutches in a season ranged from 5 to 32%. There was no difference in the size of the first and second clutches or those produced by females only laying one clutch. The average clutch size was found to be 9.2 (range, 5–12) eggs. There was no significant relationship between clutch size and body size, between clutch size and age, or between clutch size and egg size. There was a significant positive linear relationship between egg size and body size. Age-specific fecundity increased up to 20 years of age and then decreased. When compared to studies of more southern populations of painted turtles, the major reproductive strategy for this population seems to be to produce a larger number of large eggs per clutch.

Annual variations in reproductive characteristics of painted turtles (Chrysemys picta)

1986 ◽  
Vol 64 (5) ◽  
pp. 1148-1151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lin Schwarzkopf ◽  
Ronald J. Brooks
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Clutch Size ◽  
Repeated Measures ◽  
Egg Size ◽  
Annual Variation ◽  
Egg Mass ◽  
Annual Variations ◽  
Painted Turtles ◽  
Sources Of Variation ◽  
Clutch Mass

In Algonquin Park, Ontario, body size and clutch characteristics were recorded for 51 female painted turtles (Chrysemyspicta) in 1983, 61 in 1984, and 24 in 1985. Clutch size, clutch mass, and egg width correlated significantly with body size (carapace length) in all 3 years. Egg length and egg mass were significantly related to body size in 1984 and 1985, but not in 1983. There were no significant correlations of egg width or egg mass to clutch size. For a group of the same individuals compared by repeated-measures ANOVA, mean clutch mass and mean egg size, but not mean clutch size, varied significantly among years. Correlation of egg size with body size, lack of correlation between egg size and clutch size, and annual variation in egg size, but not clutch size, all fail to support current versions of optimal egg size theory. Twenty-six females nested in both 1983 and 1984 and 11 females nested in both 1984 and 1985. Fourteen females nested twice in 1 year: six in 1983 and eight in 1984. Between 43 and 73% of adult females nested in a given year and 12–13% nested twice in a single season. These estimates are similar to those reported for other populations of this species. It appears that variations in both clutch size (frequency) and egg size are important sources of variation in reproductive output.

Optimal egg size in a suboptimal environment: reproductive ecology of female Sonora mud turtles (Kinosternon sonoriense) in central Arizona, USA

2012 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey E. Lovich ◽  
Sheila V. Madrak ◽  
Charles A. Drost ◽  
Anthony J. Monatesti ◽  
Dennis Casper ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Clutch Size ◽  
Egg Size ◽  
Carapace Length ◽  
Reproductive Ecology ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Adult Females ◽  
Aperture Width ◽  
Montezuma Well ◽  
Morphological Constraint ◽  
Central Arizona

We studied the reproductive ecology of female Sonora mud turtles (Kinosternon sonoriense) at Montezuma Well, a chemically-challenging natural wetland in central Arizona, USA. Females matured between 115.5 and 125 mm carapace length (CL) and 36-54% produced eggs each year. Eggs were detected in X-radiographs from 23 April-28 September (2007-2008) and the highest proportion (56%) of adult females with eggs occurred in June and July. Clutch frequency was rarely more than once per year. Clutch size was weakly correlated with body size, ranged from 1-8 (mean = 4.96) and did not differ significantly between years. X-ray egg width ranged from 17.8-21.7 mm (mean 19.4 mm) and varied more among clutches than within. Mean X-ray egg width of a clutch did not vary significantly with CL of females, although X-ray pelvic aperture width increased with CL. We observed no evidence of a morphological constraint on egg width. In addition, greater variation in clutch size, relative to egg width, suggests that egg size is optimized in this hydrologically stable but chemically-challenging habitat. We suggest that the diversity of architectures exhibited by the turtle pelvis, and their associated lack of correspondence to taxonomic or behavioral groupings, explains some of the variation observed in egg size of turtles.

Seasonal change in the capacity for supercooling by neonatal painted turtles

2001 ◽  
Vol 204 (9) ◽  
pp. 1667-1672 ◽  
Author(s):  
G.C. Packard ◽  
M.J. Packard ◽  
L.L. McDaniel
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
Seasonal Change ◽  
Chrysemys Picta ◽  
Painted Turtle ◽  
Nucleating Agents ◽  
Limited Capacity ◽  
The North ◽  
Terrestrial Arthropods ◽  
Painted Turtles ◽  
Reduced Temperature

Hatchlings of the North American painted turtle (Chrysemys picta) typically spend their first winter of life inside the shallow, subterranean nest where they completed incubation the preceding summer. This facet of their natural history commonly causes neonates in northerly populations to be exposed in mid-winter to ice and cold, which many animals survive by remaining unfrozen and supercooled. We measured the limit of supercooling in samples of turtles taken shortly after hatching and in other samples after 2 months of acclimation (or acclimatization) to a reduced temperature in the laboratory or field. Animals initially had only a limited capacity for supercooling, but they acquired an ability to undergo deeper supercooling during the course of acclimation. The gut of most turtles was packed with particles of soil and eggshell shortly after hatching, but not after acclimation. Thus, the relatively high limit of supercooling for turtles in the days immediately after hatching may have resulted from the ingestion of soil (and associated nucleating agents) by the animals as they were freeing themselves from their eggshell, whereas the relatively low limit of supercooling attained by acclimated turtles may have resulted from their purging their gut of its contents. Parallels may, therefore, exist between the natural-history strategy expressed by hatchling painted turtles and that expressed by numerous terrestrial arthropods that withstand the cold of winter by sustaining a state of supercooling.

Natural freezing survival by painted turtles Chrysemys picta marginata and C. picta bellii

1992 ◽  
Vol 262 (3) ◽  
pp. R530-R537 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. A. Churchill ◽  
K. B. Storey
Keyword(s):  
Freeze Tolerance ◽  
Chrysemys Picta ◽  
Painted Turtle ◽  
Survival Times ◽  
Painted Turtles ◽  
Ice Content ◽  
Total Body ◽  
Natural Freezing ◽  
Free Amino Acid Pools ◽  
Continuous Freezing

Hatchlings of both the Midland (Chrysemys picta marginata) and Western (C. picta bellii) subspecies of the painted turtle tolerate the freezing of extracellular body fluids while overwintering in terrestrial nests. Fall-collected hatchlings survived 3 days of continuous freezing at -2.5 degrees C, with ice contents of 43.5 +/- 1.0% of total body water (SE; n = 24) for C. picta marginata and 46.5 +/- 0.8% (n = 32) for C. picta bellii. Survival times dropped to 4-5 h when temperature was lowered to -4 degrees C, correlated with ice contents of greater than or equal to 50%. However, C. picta marginata tested immediately after excavation from nests in the spring showed greater freeze tolerance, with survival extending to 11 days at -2.5 degrees C and a higher mean ice content of 50.2 +/- 1.2% (n = 6). Spring hatchlings also had high supercooling points, -1.07 +/- 0.13 degrees C (n = 8), that dropped within 3 days to -4.83 +/- 0.83 degrees C (n = 4), suggesting a breakdown of endogenous ice-nucleating agents when hibernation ended. A search for possible cryoprotectants showed that both subspecies accumulated glucose and lactate in liver during freezing (net increase = 3-13 mumols/g wet wt); both also maintained large free amino acid pools in organs, with taurine making up 21-47% of the total.

Clutch and egg size of the tropical lizard Tropidurus torquatus (Tropiduridae) along its geographic range in coastal eastern Brazil

2008 ◽  
Vol 86 (12) ◽  
pp. 1376-1388 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. C. Kiefer ◽  
M. Van Sluys ◽  
C. F.D. Rocha
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Clutch Size ◽  
Female Body ◽  
Egg Size ◽  
Reproductive Investment ◽  
Geographic Range ◽  
Minimum Size ◽  
Brazilian Coast ◽  
Female Body Size ◽  
Almost All

The tropidurid lizard Tropidurus torquatus (Wied, 1820) has a set of populations inhabiting coastal sand dune habitats (“restinga”) along the eastern Brazilian coast. Despite its wide geographic range, there is no information about geographic variation in reproductive features among its populations. In the present study we compared some reproductive aspects of females in 10 coastal populations of T. torquatus, aiming to evaluate to what extension they vary geographically. The minimum size at maturity was relatively similar to most populations, but mean female body size had a considerable variation. Clutch size of almost all coastal populations of T. torquatus had little variation and was composed predominantly of two eggs. Interpopulational variation in the mean egg volume was relatively wide and strongly influenced by the variation in mean female body size. The data of the present study indicated that females of almost all coastal populations of T. torquatus produce, predominantly, clutches with two eggs and invest more energy in egg size instead of clutch size, probably as a consequence of morphological and environmental factors. The increased reproductive investment in egg size was confirmed by the values obtained for the relative clutch mass, which remained relatively constant along the coastal geographic distribution of T. torquatus.

Female reproductive characteristics of the Balkan wall lizard (Podarcis taurica) in the northwestern periphery of its range

2010 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 391-395 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katarina Ljubisavljević ◽  
Georg Džukić ◽  
Miloš Kalezić
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Clutch Size ◽  
Breeding Season ◽  
Egg Size ◽  
Reproductive Traits ◽  
Species Range ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Female Body Size ◽  
Female Reproductive Traits ◽  
Gravid Females

AbstractWe present data on the female reproductive traits of the Balkan wall lizard in the Deliblato Sand, a large continental sandland in the Pannonian area in the northwestern periphery of the species range. The clutch and egg characteristics of the population were investigated on the basis of clutches laid in laboratory conditions by gravid females captured in one locality. Balkan wall lizards produced at least two clutches in a breeding season. Individual females laid clutches of commonly two (range 1–4) eggs. The female body size had no effect on clutch and egg size. There was no trade-off between egg size and clutch size.

The physiology of hibernation among painted turtles: the midland painted turtle (Chrysemys picta marginata)

2000 ◽  
Vol 124 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott A. Reese ◽  
Carlos E. Crocker ◽  
Donald C. Jackson ◽  
Gordon R. Ultsch
Keyword(s):  
Chrysemys Picta ◽  
Painted Turtle ◽  
Painted Turtles
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