Selected Aspects of the Ecology of the Chicken Turtle, Deirochelys reticularia (Latreille) (Reptilia, Testudines, Emydidae)

Abstract

Mark-release-recapture data were collected over a 9-year period on a population of the chicken turtle (Deirochelys reticularia) in South Carolina. The capture of more than 350 individuals provided data on growth rates, reproduction, size structure, and terrestrial activity. Juveniles grew more rapidly than adults, as expected, and adult growth rate appeared to diminish at larger sizes. Some individuals did not grow for periods of 1 to 2 years. Females with eggs were captured in early spring each year as soon as temperatures were consistently warm. None of the few captured during the summer had oviducal eggs; however, nine females with eggs left the aquatic area in early fall. The population size structure of adult females in 1967-70 was not appreciably different from that in 1975-76. The only consistent pattern in terrestrial activity between years was that females emerged for egg-laying in spring and fall and hatchlings entered the water in the spring. Inconsistencies between the present terrestrial activity data and those of a previous study are attributed to habitat features which vary annually. * * * presentation of field data taken over a period of several years. The initial account of the ecology and population dynamics of this species (Gibbons, 1969) was based on approximately 100 field-caught individuals whereas this supplemental material considers more than 350. The re-examination of certain aspects has, as may be expected, refined the quantitative results and led, in some instances, to different interpretations than those originally reported.