Bite Performance of Captive Alligator Snapping Turtles (Macrochelys temminckii) Improves after Reintroduction

IF 0.8 4区生物学 Q3 ZOOLOGY Journal of Herpetology Pub Date : 2022-09-26 DOI:10.1670/21-085

A. Gagnon, D. Penning, A. White, K. Graves, R. Simmons, D. B. Ligon

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Abstract

Abstract.— Alligator Snapping Turtles (Macrochelys temminckii) possess unique head morphology that suggests strong natural selection for bite performance, which likely influences foraging and prey selection, as well as the outcomes of intrasexual aggressive encounters, mating, and defense against predators. Therefore, bite performance has the potential to directly and indirectly impact fitness. In this study, we assessed the effects of captivity on bite force by comparing the performance of captive and reintroduced M. temminckii. On average, free-ranging M. temminckii bite with greater force than do individuals residing in captivity, and captive individuals housed under seminatural conditions in outdoor ponds outperformed those housed indoors. Further, we found that free-ranging M. temminckii released into different river systems performed comparably and required less provocation than captives to display gaping and biting behavior. It remains to be determined whether the observed performance differences were more strongly influenced by physiological limitations on muscle performance or by behavioral variation in motivation to bite with maximum force.

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圈养鳄鳄龟(Macrochelys temminckii)的咬伤性能在重新引入后得到改善

摘要。——短吻鳄捕捉龟（Macrochelys temminckii）具有独特的头部形态，这表明对咬合力的强烈自然选择，这可能会影响觅食和猎物的选择，以及性内攻击性遭遇、交配和防御捕食者的结果。因此，咬合性能有可能直接或间接影响体能。在这项研究中，我们通过比较圈养和重新引入的坦明克氏乳杆菌的表现来评估圈养对咬合力的影响。平均而言，与圈养的个体相比，自由放养的temminckii的咬合力更大，而在半自然条件下饲养在室外池塘中的圈养个体的咬合力优于室内饲养的个体。此外，我们发现，被释放到不同河流系统中的自由放养的坦明斯基M.temminckii表现得相当，并且需要比俘虏更少的挑衅才能表现出张大嘴巴和咬人的行为。观察到的表现差异是受肌肉表现的生理限制还是受最大力量咬合动机的行为变化的影响更大，还有待确定。

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来源期刊

Journal of Herpetology 生物-动物学

CiteScore

1.60

自引率

0.00%

发文量

审稿时长

6 months

期刊介绍： The Journal of Herpetology accepts manuscripts on all aspects on the biology of amphibians and reptiles including their behavior, conservation, ecology, morphology, physiology, and systematics, as well as herpetological education. We encourage authors to submit manuscripts that are data-driven and rigorous tests of hypotheses, or provide thorough descriptions of novel taxa (living or fossil). Topics may address theoretical issues in a thoughtful, quantitative way. Reviews and policy papers that provide new insight on the herpetological sciences are also welcome, but they must be more than simple literature reviews. These papers must have a central focus that propose a new argument for understanding a concept or a new approach for answering a question or solving a problem. Focus sections that combine papers on related topics are normally determined by the Editors. Publication in the Long-Term Perspectives section is by invitation only. Papers on captive breeding, new techniques or sampling methods, anecdotal or isolated natural history observations, geographic range extensions, and essays should be submitted to our sister journal, Herpetological Review.