Abstract
Chicken turtles (Deirochelys reticularia) are generally characterized as having atypical reproductive characteristics relative to other sympatric emydids. However, the comparatively understudied western chicken turtle (D. r. miaria) has been shown to exhibit some reproductive characteristics that differ from the other subspecies. Therefore, we examined clutch and egg sizes from six D. r. miaria (13 clutches) in Oklahoma and compared the results to values that have been reported for the other two subspecies. Females nested up to three times per year, with clutches ranging from 8-13 eggs per clutch (mean = 10.9). The eggs were 19.4-25.3 mm wide (mean = 22.2 mm). These values are greater than the means reported for the other subspecies, but the differences were not statistically significant.
Department(s)
Biology
Document Type
Article
DOI
https://doi.org/10.13128/Acta_Herpetol-22955
Rights Information
All articles published by Firenze University Press Journals are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License together with an author copyright.
Keywords
Chelonia, Emydidae, Geographic variation, Reproduction, Subspecies
Publication Date
1-1-2018
Recommended Citation
McKnight, Donald T., Ethan C. Hollender, Hunter J. Howell, John L. Carr, Kurt A. Buhlmann, and Day B. Ligon. "Egg and clutch sizes of western chicken turtles (Deirochelys reticularia miaria)." Acta Herpetologica 13 (2018): 191-194.
Journal Title
Acta Herpetologica
