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Fine scale behaviour and time-budget in the cryptic ectotherm European pond turtle Emys orbicularis. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0256549. [PMID: 34653180 PMCID: PMC8519459 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0256549] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2021] [Accepted: 08/10/2021] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
For ectotherms, behaviour and associated energetic costs are directly related to thermal conditions. In the present context of global change, estimating time-budget for these species is relevant to assess and predict their capacity to adapt to near future. We tested the hypothesis that in ectotherms where reproduction is highly energy consuming, energy expenditure should vary throughout the breeding season with a maximum around nesting events. To test this hypothesis, we assessed the fine-scale behaviour, time-budget and estimated energetic costs in eight adult female European pond turtles Emys orbicularis equipped with data-loggers recording ambient temperature, pressure, light and the animals’ 3-axis acceleration. Deployments occurred over four months throughout the nesting season 2017 in semi-natural captive conditions in Alsace, France. All study turtles showed a clear daily pattern over the 24h cycle, with four distinct phases (referred to as Night, Morning, Midday and Evening), associated with different behaviours and activity levels. Before oviposition, turtles were mostly active during Morning, and activity was positively driven by ambient temperature. Activity levels doubled during the nesting period, mostly due to the increased activity in the Evening, when nesting events occurred. Throughout the active season, basking occurrence at Midday was related to air temperature but cloud coverage was an even more important factor. Our results are a first step in predicting the seasonal time and energy budgets of the European pond turtle, and demonstrate the usefulness of animal-borne accelerometers to study free living freshwater turtles over extended periods of time.
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Variation in shell morphology of the European pond turtle, Emys orbicularis, in fragmented central European populations. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2020. [DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/blaa184] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
The European pond turtle (Emys orbicularis) is a widely distributed freshwater species inhabiting much of Europe, but it is often in population decrease or is locally extinct. In this study, we sampled five central European populations, of which four were autochthonous and one was introduced outside the native range. Moreover, two of the native populations were relatively isolated and at the periphery of the species, range. Using the frequency of shell anomalies, a geometric morphometric framework and an analysis of fluctuating asymmetry, we aimed to determine the degree of morphological differentiation among different populations. Significantly, a smaller number of individuals with a malformed shell or scutes occurred in the native core range population, which potentially has a high level of gene flow (Hungary). Although neither canonical variate analysis nor the morphological disparity analysis showed distinct differences between populations, we found significantly higher shell asymmetry in the two marginal populations (Austria and Slovakia) compared with the core range populations. Our results might thus support the central–marginal hypothesis and indicate potential genetically based conservation problems owing to demographic bottlenecks and/or isolation in marginal populations.
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Spitzweg C, Hofmeyr MD, Fritz U, Vamberger M. Leopard tortoises in southern Africa have greater genetic diversity in the north than in the south (Testudinidae). ZOOL SCR 2018. [DOI: 10.1111/zsc.12328] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Cäcilia Spitzweg
- Museum of Zoology (Museum für Tierkunde) Senckenberg Dresden Dresden Germany
| | - Margaretha D. Hofmeyr
- Chelonian Biodiversity and Conservation, Department of Biodiversity and Conservation Biology University of the Western Cape Bellville South Africa
| | - Uwe Fritz
- Museum of Zoology (Museum für Tierkunde) Senckenberg Dresden Dresden Germany
| | - Melita Vamberger
- Museum of Zoology (Museum für Tierkunde) Senckenberg Dresden Dresden Germany
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Pöschel J, Heltai B, Graciá E, Quintana MF, Velo-Antón G, Arribas O, Valdeón A, Wink M, Fritz U, Vamberger M. Complex hybridization patterns in European pond turtles (Emys orbicularis) in the Pyrenean Region. Sci Rep 2018; 8:15925. [PMID: 30374044 PMCID: PMC6206128 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-34178-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2018] [Accepted: 10/06/2018] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Hybrid zones are natural laboratories allowing insights in genetic processes like lineage diversification, speciation and introgression. Using large sampling, 15 microsatellite loci and a mitochondrial marker, we examined the Pyrenean contact zone of three pond turtle taxa (Emys orbicularis orbicularis, E. o. galloitalica, E. o. occidentalis). The Pyrenees are a biogeographically important region separating many lineages endemic to the Iberian Peninsula from their Western European counterparts. We discovered limited admixture, reflecting a complex biogeographic scenario. Simulations using Approximate Bayesian Computing supported that E. o. orbicularis invaded the Iberian Peninsula in the Holocene, circumventing the Pyrenees along the Mediterranean coast, and hybridized in the northern peninsula with the local coastal subspecies galloitalica, and to a lesser extent, with occidentalis. While E. o. occidentalis, and in particular E. o. orbicularis, expanded their ranges considerably during Holocene warming, E. o. galloitalica remained largely confined to its former Iberian refuge. Admixture among the three taxa is surprisingly low, and a future taxonomic investigation that includes the unstudied subspecies of E. orbicularis from North Africa, Eastern Europe and Asia has to determine whether their current status properly reflects their evolutionary divergence or whether certain taxa should be regarded as full species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia Pöschel
- Museum of Zoology (Museum für Tierkunde), Senckenberg Dresden, A. B. Meyer Building, 01109, Dresden, Germany
| | - Botond Heltai
- Agricultural Biotechnology Institute - National Agricultural Research and Innovation Center, Szent-Györgyi Albert u. 4, 2100, Gödöllő, Hungary
| | - Eva Graciá
- Ecology Area, Department of Applied Biology, Miguel Hernández University, Av. de la Universidad, Torreblanca, 03202, Elche, Spain
| | - Marc Franch Quintana
- CICGE - Centro de Investigação em Ciências Geo-Espaciais, Universidade de Porto, Observatório Astronómico Prof. Manuel de Barros Alameda do Monte da Virgem, 4430-146, Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal
| | - Guillermo Velo-Antón
- CIBIO/InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos da Universidade do Porto, Instituto de Ciências Agrárias de Vairão, R. Padre Armando Quintas 7, 4485-661, Vairão, Portugal
| | | | - Aitor Valdeón
- Department of Geography and Regional Planning, University of Zaragoza, Pedro Cerbuna 12, 50009, Zaragoza, Spain.,Aranzadi Society of Sciences, Zorroagagaina, 11, 20014, Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain
| | - Michael Wink
- Heidelberg University, Institute of Pharmacy and Molecular Biotechnology, Im Neuenheimer Feld 364, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Uwe Fritz
- Museum of Zoology (Museum für Tierkunde), Senckenberg Dresden, A. B. Meyer Building, 01109, Dresden, Germany
| | - Melita Vamberger
- Museum of Zoology (Museum für Tierkunde), Senckenberg Dresden, A. B. Meyer Building, 01109, Dresden, Germany.
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Agha M, Ennen JR, Nowakowski AJ, Lovich JE, Sweat SC, Todd BD. Macroecological patterns of sexual size dimorphism in turtles of the world. J Evol Biol 2018; 31:336-345. [DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13223] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2017] [Accepted: 12/06/2017] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- M. Agha
- Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology; University of California, Davis; Davis CA USA
| | - J. R. Ennen
- Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute; Chattanooga TN USA
| | - A. J. Nowakowski
- Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology; University of California, Davis; Davis CA USA
| | - J. E. Lovich
- Southwest Biological Science Center; U.S. Geological Survey; Flagstaff AZ USA
| | - S. C. Sweat
- Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute; Chattanooga TN USA
| | - B. D. Todd
- Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology; University of California, Davis; Davis CA USA
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