Eggs of the common snapping turtle, Chelydra serpentinu, were incubated at constant temperatures ranging from 20°C to 30°C. At hatching, the oviducts were absent or incomplete in males; the testes were differentiated. In females at hatching, the oviduct was intact but in some cases the gonad retained bisexual characteristics. Three months after hatching, the ovary was differentiated and contain...

The N-mixture model is widely used to estimate the abundance of a population in the presence of unknown detection probability from only a set of counts subject to spatial and temporal replication (Royle, 2004, Biometrics 60, 105-115). We explain and exploit the equivalence of N-mixture and multivariate Poisson and negative-binomial models, which provides powerful new approaches for fitting thes...

Using mtDNA sequences and 12 microsatellite loci, we compare populations of Testudo graeca from Sardinia and North Africa. The observed pattern of almost no differentiation combined with reduced variation in the Sardinian population is consistent with introduction in prehistoric or historic times from what is now Tunisia and neighbouring Algeria. Furthermore, in the light of the recently publis...

1. In both Pseudemys and Testudo, blood pressures are identical in all chambers of the ventricle. Systolic pressures are not measurably different in the ventricle and systemic arteries but are 0-5-2-0 cm H2O lower in the pulmonary artery due to the resistance of the pulmonary outflow tract. Diastolic pressures are the same in all systemic arteries but are substantially lower in the pulmonary ar...

Physiological parameters provide indicators to evaluate how organisms respond to conservation actions. For example, individuals translocated during reinforcement programmes may not adapt to their novel host environment and may exhibit elevated chronic levels of stress hormones and/or decreasing body condition. Conversely, successful conservation actions should be associated with a lack of detri...

background: ticks are obligate blood feeders that parasitize a wide variety of animals. hyalomma aegyptium, parasitize tortoises and other small wild life and livestock. this study was carried out to determine spur-thighed tortoise (testudo graeca) infestation to h. ageyptium in urmia region west azerbaijan of iran. methods: the study was carried out over a 16 month period from the spring of 20...