scholarly journals Thermoregulation in the box turtles Terrapene carolina and Terrapene ornata

2002 ◽  
Vol 80 (5) ◽  
pp. 934-943 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Pedro Sousa do Amaral ◽  
Glenn Marvin ◽  
Victor H Hutchison
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Body Temperature ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Thermal Preference ◽  
Factorial Anova ◽  
Terrapene Carolina ◽  
Terrapene Ornata ◽  
Measured Activity ◽  
Box Turtles ◽  
Forested Areas

Terrapene ornata and Terrapene carolina are box turtles that live in different habitats, the former in grasslands and desert edges and the latter in forested areas. Considering these species' habitat selection, we predicted that T. ornata would select a higher body temperature (Tb) and would be a more precise thermoregulator than T. carolina. We recorded time series of cloacal Tb's in thigmothermal linear gradients from acclimatized (12 h light : 12 h dark; 10 or 20°C) box turtles. We used three analytical methods to evaluate and characterize turtles' activity: a ratio-dependent index that measured activity as an indirect function of changes in Tb, a comparison of hourly mean variances of Tb (ratio-independent), and autocorrelation. We tested the thermoregulatory differences between active T. carolina and T. ornata with a factorial ANOVA and characterized the turtles' thermoregulatory cycles with correlograms. Overall, T. ornata had significantly higher mean Tb's than T. carolina. The two species had similar diel thermoregulatory cycles with a period of approximately 24 h. No clear differences in absolute thermoregulatory precision of Tb's were detected. These species' thermal behaviours were consistent with those reported from field studies, suggesting that there are intrinsically determined differences in thermal preference that may help explain the different habitat choices.

PREVALENCE OF INTRAERYTHROCYTIC PARASITES IN MAROCHELYS TEMMINCKII, EMYDOIDEA BLANDINGII, TERRAPENE CAROLINA CAROLINA, AND TERRAPENE ORNATA ORNATA

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raquel Doke ◽  
Kara Hiebert ◽  
Melanie Repella ◽  
Megan Stuart ◽  
Lauren Mumm ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Age Classes ◽  
Emydoidea Blandingii ◽  
Terrapene Carolina ◽  
Terrapene Ornata ◽  
Blood Smears ◽  
Box Turtles ◽  
Eastern Box Turtles ◽  
Specific Species ◽  
Terrapene Carolina Carolina ◽  
Free Ranging

Few studies have characterized the prevalence of intraerythrocytic parasites in free-ranging chelonian populations or their occurrence across habitats. It is hypothesized that chelonians in different habitats have different exposures to vectors and thus, differences in hemoparasite presence. This study explored the prevalence and intensity of intraerythrocytic parasites by examining blood smears from four species of Illinois turtles: wild Blanding’s turtles (Emydoidea blandingii), eastern box turtles (Terrapene carolina carolina) (EBT), and ornate box turtles (Terrapene ornata ornata) (OBT) and headstarted alligator snapping turtles (Macrochelys temminckii) (AST). Intraerythrocytic parasites were identified in all examined species except for the alligator snapping turtle. For all age classes, Blanding’s turtles had both the highest prevalence of hemoparasites and intensity of infection of all sampled species, while adult Blanding’s turtles had a significantly higher prevalence than juveniles (P<0.05). As this is the first study of hemoparasites in Illinois chelonians, further research is needed to identify the specific species of intraerythrocytic parasite, the potential vectors, and the effect these hemoparasites have on the health of chelonians.

Identification of a novel herpesvirus in captive Eastern box turtles (Terrapene carolina carolina)

2015 ◽  
Vol 175 (2-4) ◽  
pp. 218-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard R. Sim ◽  
Terry M. Norton ◽  
Ellen Bronson ◽  
Matthew C. Allender ◽  
Nancy Stedman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Terrapene Carolina ◽  
Box Turtles ◽  
Eastern Box Turtles ◽  
Terrapene Carolina Carolina

scholarly journals Short-term changes in air humidity and water availability weakly constrain thermoregulation in a dry-skinned ectotherm

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. e0247514
Author(s):  
Jean-François Le Galliard ◽  
David Rozen-Rechels ◽  
Anjélica Lecomte ◽  
Clémence Demay ◽  
Andréaz Dupoué ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Temperature ◽  
Water Availability ◽  
Behavioral Thermoregulation ◽  
Thermal Preference ◽  
Air Humidity ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Free Standing ◽  
Standing Water ◽  
Zootoca Vivipara ◽  
Thermal Preferences

Thermoregulation is critical for ectotherms as it allows them to maintain their body temperature close to an optimum for ecological performance. Thermoregulation includes a range of behaviors that aim at regulating body temperature within a range centered around the thermal preference. Thermal preference is typically measured in a thermal gradient in fully-hydrated and post-absorptive animals. Short-term effects of the hydric environment on thermal preferences in such set-ups have been rarely quantified in dry-skinned ectotherms, despite accumulating evidence that dehydration might trade-off with behavioral thermoregulation. Using experiments performed under controlled conditions in climatic chambers, we demonstrate that thermal preferences of a ground-dwelling, actively foraging lizard (Zootoca vivipara) are weakly decreased by a daily restriction in free-standing water availability (less than 0.5°C contrast). The influence of air humidity during the day on thermal preferences depends on time of the day and sex of the lizard, and is generally weaker than those of of free-standing water (less than 1°C contrast). This shows that short-term dehydration can influence, albeit weakly, thermal preferences under some circumstances in this species. Environmental humidity conditions are important methodological factors to consider in the analysis of thermal preferences.

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