scholarly journals New Distribution Records for Painted Turtles, Chrysemys picta, from Northwestern and Northeastern Ontario

2009 ◽  
Vol 123 (4) ◽  
pp. 375
Author(s):  
Wayne F. Weller
Keyword(s):  
Chrysemys Picta ◽  
Painted Turtle ◽  
Northwestern Ontario ◽  
Painted Turtles ◽  
Chrysemys Picta Bellii ◽  
New Distribution

Records of Western Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta bellii) in northwestern Ontario and of Midland Painted Turtle (C. p. marginata) in northeastern Ontario extend the documented range northward. Two records of C. p. marginata represent the first records for the Timiskaming District.

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.

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

scholarly journals A Brief Review of Non-Avian Reptile Environmental DNA (eDNA), with a Case Study of Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta) eDNA under Field Conditions

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clare I. M. Adams ◽  
Luke A. Hoekstra ◽  
Morgan R. Muell ◽  
Fredric J. Janzen
Keyword(s):  
Rank Order ◽  
Environmental Dna ◽  
Chrysemys Picta ◽  
Field Conditions ◽  
Painted Turtle ◽  
Freshwater Turtles ◽  
Detection Rates ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Painted Turtles ◽  
Current State

Environmental DNA (eDNA) is an increasingly used non-invasive molecular tool for detecting species presence and monitoring populations. In this article, we review the current state of non-avian reptile eDNA work in aquatic systems, as well as present a field experiment on detecting the presence of painted turtle (Chrysemys picta) eDNA. Thus far, turtle and snake eDNA studies have been successful mostly in detecting the presence of these animals in field conditions. However, some instances of low detection rates and non-detection occur for these non-avian reptiles, especially for squamates. We explored this matter by sampling lentic ponds with different densities (0 kg/ha, 6 kg/ha, 9 kg/ha, and 13 kg/ha) of painted turtles over three months, attempting to detect differences in eDNA accumulation using a qPCR assay. Only one sample of the highest density pond readily amplified eDNA. Yet, estimates of eDNA concentration from pond eDNA were rank-order correlated with turtle density. We present a “shedding hypothesis”–the possibility that animals with hard, keratinized integument do not shed as much DNA as mucus-covered organisms–as a potential challenge for turtle eDNA studies. Despite challenges with eDNA inhibition and availability in water samples, we remain hopeful that eDNA can be used to detect freshwater turtles in the field. We provide key recommendations for biologists wishing to use eDNA methods for detecting non-avian reptiles.

scholarly journals Cold-acclimation induces life stage-specific responses in the cardiac proteome of Western painted turtles (Chrysemys picta bellii): implications for anoxia tolerance

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah L. Alderman ◽  
Claire L. Riggs ◽  
Oliver Bullingham ◽  
Todd E. Gillis ◽  
Daniel E. Warren
Keyword(s):  
Protein Expression ◽  
Cold Acclimation ◽  
Developmental Stages ◽  
Heart Function ◽  
Life Stage ◽  
Chrysemys Picta ◽  
Anoxia Tolerance ◽  
Painted Turtles ◽  
Chrysemys Picta Bellii ◽  
Induced Changes

AbstractWestern painted turtles (Chrysemys picta bellii) are the most anoxia-tolerant tetrapod. Survival time improves at low temperature and during ontogeny, such that adults acclimated to 3°C survive far longer without oxygen than either warm-acclimated adults or cold-acclimated hatchlings. Since protein synthesis is rapidly suppressed to save energy at the onset of anoxia exposure, this study tested the hypothesis that cold-acclimation would evoke preparatory changes in protein expression that would support enhanced anoxia survival in adult but not hatchling turtles. To test this, adult and hatchling turtles were acclimated to either 20°C (warm) or 3°C (cold) for 5 weeks, and then the heart ventricles were collected for quantitative proteomic analysis using labeled isobaric tags and mass spectrometry. The relative abundances of 1316 identified proteins were compared between temperatures and developmental stages. The effect of cold-acclimation on the cardiac proteome was most evident when life stage was included as a covariable, suggesting that ontogenic differences in anoxia tolerance may be predicated on successful maturation of the heart from its hatchling to adult form and, only after this maturation occurs, will cold-acclimation induce protein expression changes appropriate for supporting heart function during prolonged anoxia. The main differences between the hatchling and adult cardiac proteomes reflect an increase in metabolic scope that included more myoglobin and increased investment in both aerobic and anaerobic energy pathways. Mitochondrial structure and function were key targets of life stage- and temperature-induced changes to the cardiac proteome, including reduced complex II proteins in cold-acclimated adults that may help down-regulate the electron transport system and avoid succinate accumulation during anoxia. Therefore, targeted cold-induced changes to the cardiac proteome may be a contributing mechanism for stagespecific anoxia tolerance in turtles.

Response of protein synthesis to anoxia and recovery in anoxia-tolerant hepatocytes

1993 ◽  
Vol 265 (1) ◽  
pp. R41-R48 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. C. Land ◽  
L. T. Buck ◽  
P. W. Hochachka
Keyword(s):  
Protein Synthesis ◽  
Chrysemys Picta ◽  
Painted Turtle ◽  
Urea Synthesis ◽  
O2 Consumption ◽  
Purine Nucleotide ◽  
Turnover Rates ◽  
Atp Turnover ◽  
Chrysemys Picta Bellii ◽  
Metabolic Suppression

Hepatocytes from the western painted turtle (Chrysemys picta bellii) display a profound metabolic suppression under anoxia. Fractional rates of protein synthesis fell by 92% during 12 h anoxia at 25 degrees C and were indistinguishable from the rate obtained with cycloheximide. Normoxic recovery saw protein synthesis increase to 160% of control values and return to normal after 2 h. The GTP-to-GDP ratio, implicated in the control of translation, fell threefold during anoxia. Purine nucleotide phosphate profiles suggest that this change occurs through increasing concentrations of ADP and GDP, with concentrations of ATP and GTP and total purines remaining constant. The normoxic cost for protein synthesis was calculated at 47.6 +/- 6.8 mmol ATP/g protein. Normoxic protein synthesis accounted for 36% of overall ATP turnover rates, close to the extent of O2 consumption inhibitable by cycloheximide (28%). Under anoxia, the proportion of ATP turnover utilized by protein synthesis did not change significantly. ATP turnover rates for urea synthesis reflected a similar pattern, falling 72% under anoxia. These results reflect the cell's ability to suppress protein synthesis under anoxia in a manner that is coordinated with the reduction in total metabolic rate.

How do sexual differences in growth and maturation interact to determine size in northern and southern painted turtles?

1994 ◽  
Vol 72 (8) ◽  
pp. 1436-1443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert St. Clair ◽  
Patrick T. Gregory ◽  
J. Malcolm Macartney
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Chrysemys Picta ◽  
Annual Growth ◽  
Painted Turtle ◽  
Size At Maturity ◽  
The South ◽  
Northern Limit ◽  
Painted Turtles ◽  
Annual Frequency

Widely distributed animals often show considerable differences in growth and maturation both between sexes and among populations. We compared growth and maturation between the sexes in the painted turtle (Chrysemys picta) at the northern limit of its range and related these differences to patterns observed in southern populations. In British Columbia, females grow faster and mature later than males, and as a consequence, are both larger and older than males at maturity. Northern individuals of both sexes show greater annual growth than populations farther south, despite a shorter growing season. Northern males may mature at a similar age to those in the south but northern females mature later than those in the south and this, coupled with faster growth, results in larger size at maturity. Because of constraints on the number of clutches that may be successfully incubated per year at a higher latitude, northern females reproduce at most once per year, whereas southern females can produce several clutches over a summer. Therefore, delayed maturity and faster growth may be favoured in northern females so that they may produce larger clutches at a necessarily lower annual frequency.

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