Behavioral responses of hatchling painted turtles (Chrysemys picta ) and snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina ) at subzero temperatures
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چکیده
We monitored behavioral responses of cold-acclimated hatchling painted turtles (Chrysemys picta ) indigenous to Nebraska and hatchling snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina ) indigenous to Nebraska and Arkansas during cooling (0.18C/min) to temperatures as low as ÿ198C. All turtles made exploratory movements during cooling and locomotion occurred at temperatures as low as ÿ2 to ÿ48C, but C. picta maintained relatively higher levels of locomotor activity than C. serpentina, and no dierences in motility occurred between northern and southern groups of C. serpentina. Slow movements of the head and limbs were observed in supercooled hatchling C. picta at temperatures as low as ÿ108C, whereas at about ÿ58C, C. serpentina exhibited an increase in spontaneous motor activity followed by muscle contracture, immobility, and spontaneous freezing. C. picta spontaneously froze at about ÿ168C without exhibiting cold contracture, suggesting that they are better adapted to survive exposure to extreme cold. # 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
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