Multiple paternity at the largest green turtle (Chelonia mydas) rookery in the Mediterranean

Türkozan, Oğuz; Karaman, Sezgin; Yılmaz, Can; Beşer, Nurettin

doi:10.1016/j.rsma.2019.100777

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…While photographic evidence of mating sea turtles widely exists, repeat records of the same females mating with different males in the same season are limited (Booth & Peters, 1972; Limpus, 1993; Ulrich & Parkes, 1978). Here, we confirmed the existence of polyandry in loggerhead sea turtles at our study site, supporting an existing genetic study at the study site (Zbinden et al, 2007) and other sites of sea turtles in the Mediterranean and globally (Lee et al, 2018; Turkozan et al, 2019).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Photo‐identification confirms polyandry in loggerhead sea turtles

Papafitsoros

Dimitriadis²,

Mazaris

et al. 2022

Marine Ecology

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While polyandry in sea turtles is indicated through multiple‐paternity analyses of offspring, confirmed observations of the same female mating with multiple males are extremely challenging to obtain. To contribute to this discussion, we analysed a long‐term photo‐identification database (>20 years) of adult male and female loggerhead sea turtles frequenting the breeding area of Zakynthos, Greece, Mediterranean. A total of 38 records of mating individuals within and across seasons were assimilated via field surveys and citizen science records between 2003 and 2020. For one female, we recorded it mating with two different males within a 5.5‐h interval on the same day in 2015. This observation constitutes the first direct evidence of polyandry in sea turtles, in addition to highlighting the potential for photo‐identification to contribute information on less well‐known aspects of sea turtle biology, such as validating outputs of genetic studies.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Photo‐identification confirms polyandry in loggerhead sea turtles

Papafitsoros

Dimitriadis²,

Mazaris

et al. 2022

Marine Ecology

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“…In contrast to other scientific studies, Hays et al (2017) suggested that highly female-biased hatchling sex ratios are not incompatible with balanced operational sex ratios. Paternity studies of green turtles in Northern Cyprus and Turkey (Wright et al 2012, Türkozan et al 2019) and loggerhead turtles from Australia (Tedeschi et al 2014, Howe et al 2018 showed almost 1:1 or male-biased operational sex ratios. Similarly, juvenile and adult sex ratios were found to be more balanced (51.5% female) in foraging grounds of loggerhead turtles in the Mediterranean (Casale et al 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermal conditions of green turtle (Chelonia mydas) nests in the largest rookery in the eastern Mediterranean

Türkozan

Yılmaz

Almpanidou

et al. 2023

Endang. Species. Res.

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Climate change impacts on vertebrates have many implications. The thermal conditions of vertebrates during incubation are known to influence morphological, physiological, and behavioral traits. Thus, incubation temperatures have consequences for ecological and evolutionary processes, and for certain reptiles can determine sex. For oviparous reptiles, information on the thermal environment of nests is often used to estimate sex ratio, metabolic heat, and their effects on hatching success. This critical baseline information is not always available for all species in all regions, hampering our ability to design analyses that could direct future management and conservation actions. Such is the case for green turtles in the Mediterranean, which nest at many different sites but few of which have had their thermal environment documented in detail. We recorded temperature in 225 green turtle nests (between 2009 and 2013) and 12 control sites in the sand (15, 30, and 45 m distance from high tide line between 2010 and 2013) at 75 cm depth at Akyatan beach, Turkey. The mean temperature of the nests ranged from 28.4 to 33.5°C, and those experiencing high temperatures exhibited low hatching success. The observed thermal environment within the nests exhibited a narrow range relative to the control sites, with daily temperature fluctuations in nests ranging from 0.1°C up to 4.5°C. The nest temperature was strongly negatively correlated with incubation duration, while metabolic heating was highest in the last third of the incubation duration, and was significantly correlated to clutch size.

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“…While at first glance a bias toward females in primary sex ratios (PSR) (sex ratio of hatchlings produced on the beach) seems problematic, it may not necessarily have a functional consequence. This is because the operational sex ratio (OSR) (sex ratio of adult individuals that reproduce in a given season) is frequently close to equal in a range of populations of sea turtle species including loggerheads (Hays et al ., 2010), leatherbacks (Stewart and Dutton, 2011), hawksbills (Gaos et al ., 2018), and greens (Turkozan et al ., 2019). This can be explained by the increased physiological toll experienced by reproductively active female turtles in comparison to males, meaning that male turtles are able to migrate and reproduce more frequently (Santidrian Tomillo and Spotila, 2020).…”

Section: Climate Change and Its Effects On Sea Turtle Reproductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reproduction in Sea Turtles, a Review

Scheelings

2023

Journal of Herpetological Medicine and Surgery

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Sea turtles are among the most ancient vertebrates on Earth, having existed for more than 120 million years. They are a monophyletic group, comprised of two families and seven extant species. Despite the close phylogenetic relationships sea turtles share, there are significant differences in life history traits and reproductive strategies between the species, including migration, reproductive output, and neonatal behavior. Understanding these differences may be critical to reversing the declining population trends seen in most sea turtle populations.

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Multiple paternity at the largest green turtle (Chelonia mydas) rookery in the Mediterranean

Cited by 7 publications

References 54 publications

Photo‐identification confirms polyandry in loggerhead sea turtles

Photo‐identification confirms polyandry in loggerhead sea turtles

Thermal conditions of green turtle (Chelonia mydas) nests in the largest rookery in the eastern Mediterranean

Reproduction in Sea Turtles, a Review

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