The ecology and migrations of sea turtles. 5, Comparative features of isolated green turtle colonies. American Museum novitates ; no. 2091
Supplemental Materials
Date
1962
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Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History
DOI
DOI
Abstract
"Data are presented on two genetically separate colonies of the Atlantic green turtle (Chelonia mydas mydas (Linnaeus)), one breeding at Tortuguero, Costa Rica, the other at Ascension Island in the South Atlantic. The two are compared with respect to reproductive behavior and periodicities and to various other features. The work at Ascension was undertaken because the periodic arrival of breeding schools at that oceanic island seemed clear evidence of a refined guidance process. Circumstances suggested that the island is the nesting center for the non-breeding green turtle populations of the coast of Brazil. Two Brazilian tag recoveries reënforce the assumption. Of turtles tagged during five seasons at Tortuguero, there have been 54 post-season recoveries, from all parts of the western Caribbean. The one return from outside the Caribbean came from Campeche, Mexico. Both renesting returns at Ascension and renesting and long-term returns at Tortuguero support previous evidence of strong site tenacity and discrimination in the species. Orientation tests in Florida, involving year-old green turtles of different backgrounds, show that animals of this age retain sea-finding sense to carry them to the water under strongly manipulated conditions on a strange shore. The migration problem is discussed in general terms, in the light of recent data, and hypothetical travel routes are proposed"--P. 40-41.
Description
42 p. : ill., maps ; 24 cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 41-42).
Includes bibliographical references (p. 41-42).
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