Effects of Sex and Microhabitat Use on Diel Body Temperature Variation in Midland Painted Turtles (Chrysemys picta marginata)

Copeia ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 2009 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
JohnW. Rowe ◽  
SusanF. Dalgarn
2007 ◽  
Vol 85 (4) ◽  
pp. 526-535 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.L. Edwards ◽  
G. Blouin-Demers

Body temperature affects nearly all processes of ectotherms. Reptiles do not generate sufficient body heat to regulate their body temperature internally and therefore use behavioural thermoregulation. We determined whether thermoregulatory effort varied among seasons in an environment where large temporal differences in environmental temperatures (Te) exist. We took 31 297 internal body temperature (Tb) measurements from 18 painted turtles ( Chrysemys picta (Schneider, 1783)) throughout their active season. We estimated Te with physical models and water temperatures. We measured the range of preferred body temperatures (Tset) in a thermal gradient. Tset was 21.3–25.0 °C. We used Tb, Te, and Tset to calculate standard thermoregulation indices (Ex and de – db). An Ex of 40.7% and a de – db of 2.4 °C indicated that painted turtles are moderate thermoregulators, despite inhabiting a high-cost environment. Effort to regulate Tb increased as the thermal quality of the habitat decreased. Thermoregulatory effort was higher when Tset could not be achieved. Painted turtles put more effort in thermoregulation in the early season than in the rest of the season. This within-species pattern follows the pattern seen among species. This study is the first to measure Tb internally and to apply standard thermoregulation indices to free-ranging turtles.


1993 ◽  
Vol 130 (2) ◽  
pp. 314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nat B. Frazer ◽  
Judith L. Greene ◽  
J. Whitfield Gibbons

1979 ◽  
Vol 57 (5) ◽  
pp. 1046-1051 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shannon F. Timmers ◽  
Paul D. Lewis Jr.

One new monogenean is described and 11 other helminths are reported from painted turtles from eastern Manitoba. Polystomoides pauli sp.n. from the host's oral mucosa most closely resembles P. coronatum (Leidy) and P. oris Paul. It differs from the former in having more and larger genital coronet spines, and possession of anterior cecal diverticula, and from the latter in size, larger number of genital coronet spines, and possession of great hooks with entire, not bifid, roots. Price's emendation of P. coronatum to include five species he held to be its synonyms is rejected; and the five species, P. opacum Stunkard, P. megacotyle Stunkard, P. microcotyle Stunkard, P. albicollis MacCallum, and P. digitatum MacCallum are designated species inquirendae. Polystomoides coronatum is restricted to the redescription given for it by Stunkard. The trematodes Crepidostomum sp., Eustomos chelydrae, Microphallus opacus, Protenes angustus, Spirorchis parvus, S. scripta, Telorchis attenuatus, and T. corti, the cestode Proteocephalus sp., and the nematodes Serpinema trispinosa and Spiroxys contortus are reported from Chrysemys picta belli. Except for P. angustus, all represent first reports from turtles in Canada. This is the first report of E. chelydrae from the host stomach, and the second report of M. opacus from naturally infected turtles.


1981 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 165-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary C. Packard ◽  
Mary J. Packard ◽  
Thomas J. Boardman

2006 ◽  
Vol 84 (8) ◽  
pp. 1129-1137 ◽  
Author(s):  
I.R. Caldwell ◽  
V.O. Nams

Orientation mechanisms allow animals to spend minimal time in hostile areas while reaching needed resources. Identification of the specific mechanism used by an animal can be difficult, but examining an animal's path in familiar and unfamiliar areas can provide clues to the type of mechanism in use. Semiaquatic turtles are known to use a homing mechanism in familiar territory to locate their home lake while on land, but little is known about their ability to locate habitat in unfamiliar territory. We tested the tortuosity and orientation of 60 eastern painted turtles ( Chrysemys picta picta (Schneider, 1783)). We released turtles at 20 release points located at five distances and in two directions from two unfamiliar lakes. Turtle trails were quite straight (fractal dimension between 1.1 and 1.025) but were not oriented towards water from any distance (V-test; u < 0.72; P > 0.1). Turtles maintained their initially chosen direction but either could not detect water or were not motivated to reach it. Furthermore, paths were straighter at larger spatial scales than at smaller spatial scales, which could not have occurred if the turtles had been using a correlated random walk. Turtles must therefore be using a reference stimulus for navigation even in unfamiliar areas.


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wesley O. Smith ◽  
Jessica E. Rettig ◽  
Logan E. Smith ◽  
Geoffrey R. Smith

1991 ◽  
Vol 125 (2) ◽  
pp. 245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nat B. Frazer ◽  
J. Whitfield Gibbons ◽  
Judith L. Greene

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