The jaw muscles of a turtle [Mauremys (Clemmys) japonica (MCJ)], have been analyzed for the histochemical characteristics of their fiber types. Six jaw muscles of the MCJ have been analyzed for histochemical characteristics of their fiber types. In this study, fiber types in two groups of muscles are classified; 1) fast twitch glycolytic (FG), fast twitch oxidative glycolytic (FOG), slow twitch...

Salinity is one of the most brutal environmental stresses that hamper crop productivity worldwide Approximately 10% of the total land surface is salt affected and about 10 million hectare of agricultural land is lost annually due to salinization and water logging. This study was conducted to determine the ion exchanges in Halocnemum strobilaceum and Halostachys caspica in saline conditions. The...

A recent study demonstrated that the embryos of soft-shelled turtles can reposition themselves within their eggs to exploit locally warm conditions. In this paper, we ask whether turtle embryos actively seek out optimal thermal environments for their development, as do post-hatching individuals. Specifically, (i) do reptile embryos move away from dangerously high temperatures as well as towards...

Juvenile Chinese three-keeled pond turtles (Chinemys reevesii) were subjected to one of four different feeding regimens: ad libitum (AL), restricted (R), ad libitum-restricted (AL-R), or restricted-ad libitum (R-AL) for 13 weeks, to assess the compensatory growth (CG) response to food restriction and subsequent re-alimentation. After switching to ad libitum feeding, the turtles in R-AL group at...

Our research sought to characterize the phylogeny of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from pet Chinese stripe-necked turtles (Ocadia sinensis) to better understand its evolutionary relation to other isolates and increase understanding of a potential zoonotic pathogen transmitted through direct contact with pet turtles. Thirty-one Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates were obtained from both immature a...

– Commercial exploitation of freshwater turtles and tortoises has increased significantly in China since the 1990s, which has expedited the listing of some turtle species in Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Appendix II. We assessed the risk to tortoises and freshwater turtles native to China by analyzing biological and socio-economic variab...