Sea Turtle Reproductive Chronology: The Model and the Questions
Owens D, Wibbels T, Comuzzie D, Rostal D, Limpus C. 1989. Sea Turtle Reproductive Chronology: The Model and the Questions. Pages 135 - 137. In Eckert KL and Richardson TH: Proceedings of the ninth annual workshop on sea turtle conservation and biology. Jekyll Island, Georgia. February 7-11, 1989. National Oceanic Atmospheric Association
Because sea turtles deposit multiple clutches in a nesting season and because they often skip one to several years between nesting migrations, the chronological relationship between mating. fertilization of ova and nesting has been an interesting question. Carr and Hirth ( 1962) saw female Chelonia mydas being mounted as they returned to the water after nesting. On the other hand, in the same species Booth and Peters (1972), Bustard (1972) and Ulrich and Owens (1974) observed functional mating only prior to nesting. In separate reviews Frazier (1971), Ehrhart (1982) and Owens (1980) each concluded that the bulk of the observational data available supported the idea that mating occurred during a distinct receptive period prior to nesting. At Cayman Turtle Farm, female C. mydas are now well documented to enter a receptive period of a few days about 30 days prior to the first nest (Wood and Wood 1980. Comuzzie 1987). Rostal (unpublished data) has made similar observations in a captive colony of Lepidochelys kempi.
- Type
- Conference Proceeding Paper
- Authors
- Owens, David; Wibbels, Thane; Comuzzie, Diana; Rostal, David; Limpus, Colin
- Units
- SFCN
- Keywords
- Babies, Breeding, Clutch, Eggs, Hatchlings, Mating, Nesting, young