SREL Reprint #3521

Nesting and false nesting behaviors of Gopher Tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus)

Sean W. McHugh1, K. Nicole White2,3, Betsie B. Rothermel4, Tracey D. Tuberville2, and Kelly R. Zamudio5

1Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA
2Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia, Aiken, South Carolina 29802, USA
3Daniel B. Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia,
Athens, Georgia 30602, USA
4Archbold Biological Station, Venus, Florida 33960, USA
5Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA

Introduction: Integrating all aspects of a species’ reproductive biology is important to any successful conservation management plan. Yet for many species of conservation concern, we lack complete descriptions and understanding of important behaviors, such as courtship, mating, nesting, egg laying, and hatching. This is true for nesting behaviors of the Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus), a fossorial species native to the southeastern United States (Diemer 1986). Despite multiple studies of Gopher Tortoise movements, reproductive output, and mating behavior (McRae et al. 1981; Boglioli et al. 2003; Rothermel and Castellón 2014), to date, there are only two published accounts of nesting. One describes a single event by a field-collected tortoise housed in Connecticut (Kenefick 1954) and the second describes nesting behavior in a wild population of Gopher Tortoises in Georgia (Radzio et al. 2017a)...

SREL Reprint #3521

McHugh, S. W., K. N. White, B. B. Rothermel, T. D. Tuberville, and K. R. Zamudio. 2019. Nesting and false nesting behaviors of Gopher Tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus). Herpetological Review 50(3): 453-459.

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