Prosmiscuous Turtles!
A recent study conducted at the University of Minnesota and published in the Journal of Herpetology showed that multiple paternity is common among Blandings Turtles. Multiple paternity is when more than one male has fathered a baby, or in this case, one female mates with multiple fathers to produce a litter. Adult females were captured and tissue samples were obtained from each, along with gluing a radio transmitter to each. For two years, the turtles were monitored and their nests were marked and protected. When the hatchlings hatched, a tissue sample was obtained from each and they were released back to the wild. DNA tests were run on all the hatchlings, and the results of the testing showed that the majority of the clutches showed evidence of multiple paternity.
Blandings turtles occur in the northern US and in Southern Canada and populations are declining as a result of habitat alternation and fragmentation. In some states and provinces, they are considered endangered or threatened. For recovery efforts to be affective, a clear understanding of the species mating system is necessary. This goes especially for turtles due to the fact that for many relief efforts to try and stabilize a turtle population, means that they have to help bring up the reproductive success. this is done by artificial egg incubation and the headstart of hatchlings (where turtle hatchlings are raised in captivity and then released into the wild when they are big enough not to be threatened by most predators). By understanding the genetic mating system of a species, it makes it easier to infer about the social mating system of a species. By knowing the mating system, the ecological requirements of a species, mainly pertaining to successful reproduction can be better understood, and conservation efforts can be better tailored to successfully help an endangered population. Hopefully, with this knew study, better conservation efforts can be taken into helping the Blandings Turtle. Who knew that knowing about a turtle's sex life could help it's survival!
- Maura Mulvey (Group C)
posted by PWH @ 6:26 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
Maura,
What started out to be a risqué blog really turned out to be a lifesaver! I can’t believe that the Blandings Turtles are at risk. What’s more, I had no idea that the mothers would actually give birth to a litter and in that mix, each baby would have a different father. Wouldn’t the turtle fathers have a problem with that? Aren’t Turtle fathers possessive?
Sarah Bello
This sounds like the opposite of most mating strategies. Instead of picking the fittest, you just mate with all of them! Its lucky they were able to study this before the Blandings turtles were completely gone, I hope it helps in their survival.
Emily Bell
Cool article. I wonder if this occurs in other species, it seems like a pretty efficient way to increase the diversity of a population.
Jane de Verges
This is some interesting stuff. This is probably why turtles have been around so long. Having multiple fathers for one clutch of eggs might help protect from genetic mutations that may harm the species. It also could be damaging as some of the fitter males might only have a limited number of offspring.
-Calin Darabus
Post a Comment
<< Home