Long-Term Nest-Site Fidelity in the Mississippi Map Turtle, Graptemys pseudogeographica kohnii

摘要

Nest-site fidelity has been well-documented in turtles, but it is not known how long this behavior can persist. Nesting areas used by 153 individually marked Mississippi map turtles (Graptemys pseudogeographica kohnii) during 2001-2003 were compared with those used in 2019. Only 2 of 100 turtles collected in 2019 were recaptures, but these turtles returned significantly closer to their original capture location than by chance. The 17-yr interval between successive captures represents the longest record of nest-site fidelity in a freshwater turtle.