OBSERVATIONS ON REPRODUCTION IN THE WESTERN CHICKEN TURTLE, DEIROCHELYS RETICULARIA MIARIA, IN LOUISIANA

摘要

We collected reproductive data from six female Deirochelys reticularia miaria in northeastern Louisiana that were collected in January 1999, June 2001, and May of both 2002 and 2003. One female collected in late January was dissected and found to contain two size classes of enlarged ovarian follicles. Five additional females collected on land in May or June were all gravid; three of them were caught while digging a nest. Mean clutch size was 10.6 and mean egg size was 37.68 x 22.88 mm, with a mass of 11.69 g. The mean incubation period for 32 eggs was 84 days, and hatchling measurements were mean carapace length of 31.67 mm and mass of 8.32 g.