Observations of body size, growth, and reproduction in Blanding's turtle (Emydoidea blandingii) from western Nebraska

1992 ◽  
Vol 70 (9) ◽  
pp. 1690-1695 ◽  
Author(s):  
John W. Rowe
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Clutch Size ◽  
Carapace Length ◽  
Reproductive Output ◽  
Egg Mass ◽  
Mature Adult ◽  
Emydoidea Blandingii ◽  
Size Growth ◽  
Sexually Mature ◽  
Growth And Reproduction

Body size, growth, and reproduction of Emydoidea blandingii from several localities in western Nebraska were investigated. Female carapace length averaged 209.2 mm (214.8 mm for those known to be sexually mature). Adult male carapace length averaged 200.8 mm and was not significantly different from that of females, but males had pigmented tomia. Covariance analysis using carapace length as a covariate revealed that females had a significantly longer plastron and higher shell than males. Turtles showed a 70.1% increase in length of the left abdominal scute during the 1st year. Growth declined rapidly and became more constant about the 4th year (about 4–9% per year). Clutch size averaged 14.9, clutch wet mass averaged 168.5 g, and egg wet mass averaged 11.82 g. No measure of reproductive output (i.e., clutch size, clutch wet mass, relative clutch mass) or egg size (relative egg mass, egg wet mass, egg length, or egg width) was significantly correlated with maternal carapace length. Comparisons with other populations of E. blandingii are made.

Growth and body size in Blanding's turtles (Emydoidea blandingi): relationships to reproduction

1991 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 239-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin D. Congdon ◽  
Richard C. van Loben Sels
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Clutch Size ◽  
Egg Size ◽  
Reproductive Output ◽  
Body Sizes ◽  
Minimum Age ◽  
Average Size ◽  
Average Body ◽  
Clutch Mass ◽  
Growth And Reproduction

Growth and reproduction in Blanding's turtles (Emydoidea blandingi) were studied in southeastern Michigan from 1975 through 1988. Average body sizes of both sexes of adults were similar; however, shapes of males were different from those of females. The average size of a group of females with a mean minimum age of 47 years was not significantly different from a younger group with a mean age of 21 years. Clutch size ranged from 3 to 19 ([Formula: see text], N = 280) eggs over 11 years. Clutch wet mass ranged from 60.4 to 183.4 g ([Formula: see text], N = 17), and relative clutch mass of nine females averaged 0.12. Clutch size, and to a lesser degree egg size, showed a significant positive relationship with body size, but not with age of females. Hatchlings averaged 31.0 mm in plastron length, 35.3 mm in carapace length, and 9.2 g in body wet mass. Differences in juvenile growth rates and age at sexual maturity appear to be the major cause of variation in body size of adult Blanding's turtles and the related reproductive output per clutch.

Clutch Mass, Offspring Mass, and Clutch Size: Body Mass Scaling and Taxonomic and Environmental Variation

2018 ◽  
pp. 68-97
Author(s):  
Douglas S. Glazier
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Body Size ◽  
Clutch Size ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Life History Evolution ◽  
Offspring Size ◽  
Egg Mass ◽  
Mass Scaling ◽  
Scaling Relationships ◽  
Clutch Mass

In this chapter, I show how clutch mass, offspring (egg) mass, and clutch size relate to body mass among species of branchiopod, maxillipod, and malacostracan crustaceans, as well as how these important life history traits vary among major taxa and environments independently of body size. Clutch mass relates strongly and nearly isometrically to body mass, probably because of physical volumetric constraints. By contrast, egg mass and clutch size relate more weakly and curvilinearly to body mass and vary in inverse proportion to one another, thus indicating a fundamental trade-off, which occurs within many crustacean taxa as well. In general, offspring (egg) size and number and their relationships to body mass appear to be more ecologically sensitive and evolutionarily malleable than clutch mass. The body mass scaling relationships of egg mass and clutch size show much more taxonomic and ecological variation (log-log scaling slopes varying from near 0 to almost 1 among major taxa) than do those for clutch mass, a pattern also observed in other animal taxa. The curvilinear body mass scaling relationships of egg mass and number also suggest a significant, size-related shift in how natural selection affects offspring versus maternal fitness. As body size increases, selection apparently predominantly favors increases in offspring size and fitness up to an asymptote, beyond which increases in offspring number and thus maternal fitness are preferentially favored. Crustaceans not only offer excellent opportunities for furthering our general understanding of life history evolution, but also their ecological and economic importance warrants further study of the various factors affecting their reproductive success.

Biennial Reproductive Cycle of Blue King Crab, Paralithodes platypus, at the Pribilof Island, Alaska and Comparison to a Congener, P. camtschatica

1989 ◽  
Vol 46 (6) ◽  
pp. 932-940 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory C. Jensen ◽  
David A. Armstrong
Keyword(s):  
Carapace Length ◽  
Reproductive Output ◽  
Size Range ◽  
Egg Mass ◽  
King Crab ◽  
Pribilof Island ◽  
Blue King Crab ◽  
Paralithodes Platypus ◽  
One Year ◽  
Reproductive Events

Pribilof Island blue king crab (BKC; Paralithodes platypus) were sampled by beam trawl in May and August of 1983 and April 1984 to determine timing of reproductive events. Biennial reproduction was found to be the result of slow ovarian growth in large, muciparous females, while smaller primiparous females are often able to spawn in two consecutive years. Mating and egg extrusion occur in late March to early May and eggs hatch in mid-April of the following year, consequently, the embryonic period and rate of development is approximately 12 mo, similar to that of its congener the red king crab (RKC; P. camtschatica). Comparison of the reproductive output of the two species revealed that despite the 2 yr ovarian cycle, BKC only produce 20–30% more dry egg mass at any carapace length than do RKC, a substantially smaller difference than previously calculated. One year after molt, females of both species are not significantly different in dry body weight over a size range of 100–140 mm carapace length, but RKC have produced about three times more dry ovarian weight than BKC of comparable size, suggesting that biennial reproduction in BKC may be the result of energetic limitations.

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.

Body size, age distribution, and reproduction in a northern population of wood turtles (Clemmys insculpta)

1992 ◽  
Vol 70 (3) ◽  
pp. 462-469 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald J. Brooks ◽  
Cathy M. Shilton ◽  
Gregory P. Brown ◽  
Norman W. S. Quinn
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Clutch Size ◽  
Partial Correlation ◽  
Age Distribution ◽  
Egg Mass ◽  
Female Size ◽  
After Effects ◽  
Mean Width ◽  
Wood Turtles ◽  
Provincial Park

A population of the wood turtle (Clemmys insculpta) was studied on the east side of Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario, from 1987 to 1990. A total of 77 adults (56 females, 21 males) and 13 juveniles were captured, measured, and individually marked. Age at maturity was 17–18 years at a minimum carapace length of 185 mm for females and 199 mm for males. Our data supported the hypothesis that turtles in northern populations are larger and older at maturity than are those in southern populations. For 21 nests, mean clutch size was 8.8 eggs and egg mass was 96 g. Predators destroyed 15 of 17 nests in 1990, and had injured 60% of adult turtles observed. Therefore, our population had low recruitment, few juveniles, and high levels of predation on nests and adults. Comparisons among females refuted two predictions from optimal egg size theory. Mean width and mass, but not length, of eggs correlated positively with female size, and correlated positively with clutch size, even after effects of body size were removed by partial correlation. However, smaller females in the population had relatively longer eggs than did larger females, whereas the Algonquin females have absolutely smaller eggs than do much smaller females in a New Jersey population.

scholarly journals Reproductive traits of the gray ratsnake Ptyas korros from three geographically distinct populations

2012 ◽  
Vol 58 (6) ◽  
pp. 820-827 ◽  
Author(s):  
Long-Hui Lin ◽  
Fei Mao ◽  
Ce Chen ◽  
Xiang Ji
Keyword(s):  
Clutch Size ◽  
Egg Size ◽  
Reproductive Output ◽  
Reproductive Traits ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Laying Date ◽  
Egg Mass ◽  
Size Number ◽  
Female Reproductive Traits ◽  
Clutch Mass

Abstract We collected gravid gray rat snakes Ptyas korros from three geographically distinct populations in China, Chenzhou (CZ), Jiangshan (JS) and Dinghai (DH), to study geographical variation in female reproductive traits. Egg-laying dates differed among the three populations such that at the most northern latitude egg-laying was latest, and earliest at the most southern lati-tutde. Clutch size, clutch mass, egg mass, egg shape, within clutch variability in egg sizes and relative clutch mass differed among the three populations, whereas post-oviposition body mass did not. Except for egg-laying date, none of the traits examined varied in a geographically continuous trend. CZ and DH females, although separated by a distance of approximately 1100 km as the crow flies, were similar in nearly all traits examined. JS females were distinguished from CZ and DH females by their higher fecundity (clutch size), greater reproductive output (clutch mass) and more rounded eggs. Our data do not validate the prediction that larger offspring should be produced in colder localities. The absence of an egg size-number trade-off in each of the three populations presumably suggests that P. korros is among species where eggs are well optimized for size within a population.

Variation in reproductive output as a function of maternal age and weather conditions in the cultured Asian yellow pond turtle, Mauremys mutica

2020 ◽  
Vol 70 (3) ◽  
pp. 309-320
Author(s):  
Yakun Wang ◽  
Jian Zhao ◽  
Xiaoli Liu ◽  
Qing Shangguan ◽  
Wei Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Clutch Size ◽  
Maternal Age ◽  
Reproductive Output ◽  
Abiotic Factors ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Egg Mass ◽  
Stock Management ◽  
Artificial Breeding ◽  
Asian Yellow Pond Turtle ◽  
Mauremys Mutica

Abstract Biotic factors (e.g., maternal age) and abiotic factors (e.g., weather) play vital roles in reproduction. However, there is little information about the combined effects of maternal age and weather on the reproductive output of cultured Asian yellow pond turtles, Mauremys mutica. To address this issue, we surveyed and compared the reproductive output of 13-year-old and 25-year-old female turtles on non-rainy and rainy days. The results showed that older females produced larger eggs than younger females regardless of the weather conditions. Females laid larger clutch sizes (number of eggs per nest) under non-rainy conditions compared with those under rainy conditions. However, the variation in clutch frequency (number of clutches per day) was independent of maternal age and weather. There was no effect of an interaction between maternal age and weather on egg mass, clutch size or clutch frequency. Our results suggest that maternal age and weather had significant effects on egg mass and clutch size, respectively. These results imply that maternal age, together with weather conditions (mainly conditions of rain), can affect the reproductive output of M. mutica. Our results provide useful information for the artificial breeding and stock management of M. mutica.

The effects of maternal size on clutch traits in a tropical invariant-clutch lizard, Carlia rubrigularis (Scincidae)

2006 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 505-511 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brett Alexander Goodman
Keyword(s):  
Clutch Size ◽  
Egg Size ◽  
Reproductive Output ◽  
Reproductive Traits ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Offspring Size ◽  
Egg Mass ◽  
Egg Volume ◽  
Maternal Size ◽  
Tropical Australia

AbstractSpecies with an invariant or "fixed" clutch offer a unique opportunity to examine how variation in maternal size relates to key reproductive traits, such as egg size. Theoretical models of offspring size suggest selection should operate to optimize egg size and reproductive output. However, because invariant-clutch species are unable to allocate surplus resources to additional eggs (or offspring) they may exhibit different relationships than those anticipated under theoretical expectations. To test this, I examined relationships between maternal size-egg size in Carlia rubrigularis, an invariant-clutch producing scincid lizard from tropical Australia. C. rubrigularis exhibited relative clutch masses that were lower than variant clutch size species, but which were similar to other invariant clutch size species. However, maternal size (snout-vent length and post-oviposition mass) was correlated with several clutch traits (egg mass, egg width and egg volume), but females in better condition did not produce relatively heavier eggs. These results suggest mechanistic hypotheses may best explain the observed maternal size-egg size relationships in C. rubrigularis.

Reproductive biology of a cave-associated population of the frog Rana palustris

1988 ◽  
Vol 66 (2) ◽  
pp. 329-333 ◽  
Author(s):  
William J. Resetarits Jr. ◽  
Robert D. Aldridge
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Clutch Size ◽  
Reproductive Biology ◽  
Minimum Size ◽  
Detectable Effect ◽  
Size At Maturity ◽  
Fat Bodies ◽  
Autumn And Winter ◽  
Cave Use ◽  
Sexually Mature

Aspects of the reproductive biology of a trogloxene population of the pickerel frog, Rana palustris (Anura: Ranidae), were studied at a cave on the edge of the Ozark plateau in Missouri. Sexual dimorphism in body size was marked; there was almost no overlap in adult body size ranges, and the ratio of mean adult female snout–vent length (SVL) to adult male SVL was 1.26. All males with SVL of >45 mm were sexually mature. Males showed a clear cycle of spermatogenesis, with a peak in midsummer and a decline in spermatogenic activity through autumn and winter. Minimum size at maturity for females was 59 mm SVL. Females completed vitellogenesis during the summer, before their arrival at the study site. Of 28 females above the minimum size at maturity, 27 contained egg clutches. Clutch size, clutch mass, and egg size (mass) show significant positive correlation with SVL. Mean (±SD) clutch size was 1759 ± 548. Fat bodies were present in both males and females in autumn, but were totally depleted before the animals emerged from hibernation. Trogloxene R. palustris do not diverge significantly from patterns of reproductive biology typical of other temperate zone Rana. Current or past patterns of cave use have had no detectable effect on reproductive characteristics of trogloxene R. palustris.

A comparison of reproductive output of the Omei Treefrog (Rhacophorus omeimontis) between high and low elevations

2011 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 263-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wen Bo Liao ◽  
Xin Lu
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Clutch Size ◽  
Egg Size ◽  
Reproductive Output ◽  
Food Resource ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Cold Climate ◽  
Western China ◽  
Major Influence ◽  
Rhacophorus Omeimontis

AbstractElevation that results in changes in climate, duration of breeding season and food resource has long been considered a major influence on the evolution of life-history traits in amphibians. The present study examined differences in reproductive output (clutch size and egg size) of the Omei Treefrog (Rhacophorus omeimontis) at two elevations (1000 m and 1700 m above sea level) in Baoxing County, western China. Within each population, female attributes (size and age) were responsible for much of the reproductive output variation in that larger or older females produced larger clutches of smaller eggs. Clutch size and egg size showed a significantly negative correlation, which was indicative of a trade-off between the two parameters. The high-elevation females were significantly larger than the low-elevation counterparts. After accounting for interpopulational difference in body size, clutch size, egg size and clutch volume differed significantly between the populations. For the high-elevation population relatively smaller clutches tended to be associated with larger eggs. Our findings suggest that females produce smaller clutches relative to body size and larger eggs in the high-elevation population to ensure that each egg is adequately provisioned in the face of cold climate and short duration of development.

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