Vol. 13 No. 2 (2018)
Short Note

Egg and clutch sizes of western chicken turtles (Deirochelys reticularia miaria)

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  • Donald McKnight,
  • Ethan Hollender,
  • Hunter Howell,
  • John Carr,
  • Kurt Buhlmann,
  • Day Ligon
Donald McKnight
Department of Biology, Missouri State University, Springfield, Missouri, USA College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
Ethan Hollender
Department of Biology, Missouri State University, Springfield, Missouri, USA
Hunter Howell
Department of Biology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida, USA
John Carr
Department of Biology, University of Louisiana at Monroe, Louisiana, USA
Kurt Buhlmann
Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia, Aiken, South Carolina, USA
Day Ligon
Department of Biology, Missouri State University, Springfield, Missouri, USA
DOI: https://doi.org/10.13128/Acta_Herpetol-22955

Published 2018-12-31

How to Cite

McKnight, D., Hollender, E., Howell, H., Carr, J., Buhlmann, K., & Ligon, D. (2018). Egg and clutch sizes of western chicken turtles (Deirochelys reticularia miaria). Acta Herpetologica, 13(2), 191–194. https://doi.org/10.13128/Acta_Herpetol-22955
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Abstract

Chicken turtles (Deirochelys reticularia) are generally characterized as having atypical reproductive characteristics relative to other sympatric emydids. However, the comparatively understudied western chicken turtle (D. r. miaria) has been shown to exhibit some reproductive characteristics that differ from the other subspecies. Therefore, we examined clutch and egg sizes from six D. r. miaria (13 clutches) in Oklahoma and compared the results to values that have been reported for the other two subspecies. Females nested up to three times per year, with clutches ranging from 8-13 eggs per clutch (mean = 10.9). The eggs were 19.4-25.3 mm wide (mean = 22.2 mm). These values are greater than the means reported for the other subspecies, but the differences were not statistically significant.

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