SREL Reprint #2032

Prolonged egg retention in the turtle Deirochelys reticularia in South Carolina

Kurt A. Buhlmann, Tracy K. Lynch, J. Whitfield Gibbons, and Judith L. Greene

University of Georgia, Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Drawer E, Aiken, SC 29802, USA

Abstract: Deirochelys reticularia possesses a reproductive strategy unique among North American turtles by exhibiting a bimodal autumn and spring nesting pattern in the northern part of its range. Between 1976-1994, 153 X-radiographs were taken of 50 females of Deirochelys reticularia to detect the presence of calcified eggs. Thirteen gravid females were X-radiographed in both autumn and the following spring. Of these, eight retained the same set of calcified eggs and five contained a different clutch. We did not observe spring to autumn retention of eggs. Analysis of X-radiographs from Kinosternon subrubrum and Trachemys scripta indicated much shorter retention times that spanned a few weeks at most within a summer nesting season. Egg retention may represent an adaptation specific to Deirochelys that enables postponement of nesting if conditions are unsuitable.

Keywords: Deirochelys reticularia; Chicken turtle; Egg; Retention; Reproductive strategy

SREL Reprint #2032

Buhlmann, K.A., T.K. Lynch, J.W. Gibbons, and J.L. Greene. 1995. Prolonged egg retention in the turtle Deirochelys reticularia in South Carolina. Herpetologica 51:457-462.

This information was provided by the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (srel.uga.edu).