Abstract

Here we present 38 yrs of nesting data of the loggerhead population in Laganas Bay, Zakynthos, Greece, adding data for 2010–2021 to existing published data for 1984–2009. This rookery, encompassing 6 discrete beaches of 5.5 km total length, features the highest nesting density in the Mediterranean. The annual nest numbers, ranging from 667 to 2018, showed no significant long-term trend. Beach nesting contributions increased on some public-accessed beaches (as did nesting success), but decreased on a remote beach that previously held > 50% of all nests. These changes might be attributed to management actions by the National Marine Park of Zakynthos that improved conditions for sea turtles (e.g., restricting nighttime access to the public), indicating that the previously recorded high nesting density on the remote beach may have been atypical. Although no significant phenological changes were detected with the available data in the 20-yr period 2002–2021, the date of the first hatched nest shifted significantly toward earlier dates in the 38-yr data set. Clutch size and body size of nesting turtles exhibited significantly decreasing trends. Hatching success, hatchling emergence success, and in-nest hatchling mortality showed significantly increasing trends. The number of viable hatchlings decreased over the seasons, albeit not significantly, possibly a result of the decreasing clutch size. Incubation durations were revealed as shortening on all beaches, a potential sign of global warming, with a consequent suggested increase of female primary sex ratio. Continuation of this long-term monitoring program is expected to provide further insights in the reproductive traits of this regionally important loggerhead population.

We describe a new species of small chelid turtle from perennial streams in the Araguaia River subbasin near Serra das Andorinhas State Park, São Geraldo do Araguaia, Pará, Brazil. It is morphologically distinct and the smallest known member of the genus Mesoclemmys, with an average straight-line carapace length (CL) of 144 mm and maximum recorded CL of 170 mm. The species has a moderate head width of approximately 20% of CL. The carapace and dorsal soft parts are blackish, the plastron is light brownish yellow with a blackish brown central plastral figure, and the ventral soft parts are pale yellow. It has the largest femoral scutes of any Mesoclemmys and its plastral contact formula is Intergular > Anal > Humeral > Femoral > Abdominal > Pectoral > Gular. We describe the shell and skull morphology of the new species and performed genetic analysis using mitochondrial DNA (cytochrome c oxidase, subunits I [COI] and 16S) to build a phylogenetic tree for the genus, which placed the new species as sister to M. vanderhaegei.

Abstract

The eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines in June 1991 reduced global temperatures over the following 2 yrs. The greatest suppression (apart from Antarctica) was centered in the northern Great Plains of North America, directly over my long-term turtle study site. Temperatures at that site in 1992 and 1993 were the coldest in at least 50 yrs. Normal annual hatchling recruitment of yellow mud turtles (Kinosternon flavescens) in the spring following incubation at that site averaged 375; however, only 3 hatchlings emerged in 1993 (1992 incubation cohort), and none emerged in 1994 (1993 incubation cohort). The depressed temperatures apparently prolonged incubation times to such an extent in 1992 and 1993 that hatching was nearly impossible before winter mortality. The result was a gap in the age class structure that was still evident 26 yrs later. This site is at the northern range limit of this species, and this event suggests that incubation temperatures (i.e., summer season length) may be responsible for that limit.

Editorial Introduction. — This section is devoted to poetry involving turtles, representing either reprinted previously published or new unpublished material. We encourage our readers to submit poetry or songs for consideration, either their own material or work by other authors. Poems may be submitted to Anders G.J. Rhodin, Chelonian Research Foundation, E-mail: RhodinCRF@aol.com.

Our desire is to share with our readers the beauty and wonder of turtles as expressed through the art of the poem or song. In the sense that the relationship between man and turtles is multifaceted, so too is turtle poetry. The poems we publish here

Thirty-Eight Years of Loggerhead Turtle Nesting in Laganas Bay, Zakynthos, Greece: A Review

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A New South American Freshwater Turtle of the Genus Mesoclemmys from the Brazilian Amazon (Testudines: Pleurodira: Chelidae)

Climate-Mediated Recruitment Failure in a Turtle Population and Its Bearing on Northern Limits of Distribution

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Inferred Impacts of Extreme Environments on Hawksbill Turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) Body Size and Reproductive Output

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Diet and Isotopic Niche of the Rio Grande Cooter (Pseudemys gorzugi) and Syntopic Red-eared Slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) in San Felipe Creek, Texas, USA

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A Survey of Reeves' Turtle (Mauremys reevesii) in Qichun County, Hubei Province, China

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Reproductive Phenology and Output in Florida Box Turtles (Terrapene bauri) in Southwestern Florida

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Fecundity, Female Maturation, and Nesting Season of Western Chicken Turtles (Deirochelys reticularia miaria) in Texas

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Diet and Habitat of the Scorpion Mud Turtle (Kinosternon scorpioides scorpioides) in the Southern Limit of the Species' Distribution (Argentina)

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Reproductive Characteristics of Rio Grande Cooters (Pseudemys gorzugi) in Western Texas

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Determining Nest Site Selection by Hawksbill Sea Turtles in the Persian Gulf Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

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How to Reduce the Risk of Predation of Green Turtle Nests by Nile Monitors

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Loss of Mississippi Diamondback Terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin pileata) Nesting Habitat in the Northern Gulf of Mexico

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Livestock Ponds as Long-Term Habitat for Southwestern Pond Turtles (Actinemys pallida) in Rangeland Landscapes

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Experimental Analysis of Wavelength Preferences Shown by Hatchling Leatherback Sea Turtles (Dermochelys coriacea)

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TURTLE POETRY

Notes on the Nesting Ecology of the Rio Grande Cooter (Pseudemys gorzugi) at the Northern Limit of Its Range

Blood Parameters of the Turtle Mesoclemmys vanderhaegei (Testudines: Chelidae): Insights into Its Health Status in Southeastern Brazil

New Records of the Critically Endangered Asian Narrow-Headed Softshell Turtle, Chitra chitra, in Thailand

Nesting Ecology of Painted Turtles (Chrysemys picta picta × C. p. marginata) at an Anthropogenic Site in South-Central Pennsylvania

Nest Site Sand Temperatures from 1897 to 2023 for Three Sea Turtle Species at Kuroshima Island, Ryukyu Archipelago, Japan

Terrestrial Movements of Hatchling Wood Turtles (Glyptemys insculpta) in Agricultural Fields in New Jersey

Editorial Reflection

Observations on Terrestrial Feeding Behavior and Growth in Diamondback Terrapin (Malaclemys) and Snapping Turtle (Chelydra) Hatchlings

Hematological Parameters, Plasma Polypeptide Profiles, and Human Anti-Cancer Bioactivity of Testudo graeca and Testudo horsfieldii Plasma

Ecology and Status of the Magdalena River Turtle, Podocnemis lewyana, a Colombian Endemic