Courtship and homosexual behaviour in saw‐shelled turtles (Myuchelys latisternum)

Abstract

AbstractTurtles exhibit a wide range of courtship behaviours, but there are still many knowledge gaps, and the courtship and mating behaviours of many species are poorly known. Here, I present an observation of heterosexual courtship behaviour in wild saw‐shelled turtles (Myucheyls latisternum), as well as an observation of a male M. latisternum attempting to mount another male. The heterosexual courtship was characterized by the male repeatedly waving his feet at the female, scratching her face, pushing her chin with his nose (often moving her backwards) and attempting to align his snout with hers while facing her. A particularly strong emphasis seemed to be placed on aligning the snouts, and when they were aligned, the male would blow water out of his nose across her face (or into her nose). The female appeared indifferent to the male, and they swam away together before any copulation was observed. In the observation of apparent homosexual behaviour, a large male sat submerged and partially buried in a pile of leaves, while a smaller male repeatedly tried to mount him. It appeared that the smaller male was trying to align their posteriors in a typical turtle mating position. The large male eventually swam away. These observations expand our understanding of the courtship behaviour of Australian turtles and present the first documented case of same‐sex mounting in M. latisternum as well as one of the few reported observations of same‐sex mounting in wild turtles.