Fanrong XIAO,Zhen HONG and Haitao SHI.Effect of Morphology and Age on the Closure Ability of Asian Box Turtles (Cuora)[J].Asian Herpetological Research(AHR),2022,13(3):159-167.[doi:10.16373/j.cnki.ahr.210048]

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Effect of Morphology and Age on the Closure Ability of Asian Box Turtles (Cuora)

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Asian Herpetological Research[ISSN:2095-0357/CN:51-1735/Q]

Issue:

2022 VoI.13 No.3

Page:

159-167

Research Field:

Publishing date:

2022-09-22

Info

Title:

Effect of Morphology and Age on the Closure Ability of Asian Box Turtles (Cuora)

Author(s):

Fanrong XIAO^1#;  Zhen HONG¹; 2 # and Haitao SHI^1*

¹ Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, Key Laboratory of Tropical Animal and Plant Ecology of Hainan Province, College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou 571158, Hainan, China
² College of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Hainan Open University, Haikou 570208, Hainan, China

Keywords:

anterior plastron lobe length;  closing force;  closing time;  Geoemydidae;  shell kinesis

PACS:

-

DOI:

10.16373/j.cnki.ahr.210048

Abstract:

The ability of box turtles to close their shell as an antipredation adaptation and the potential impact of the anterior and posterior lobes of the plastron on the closing force and closing time remain relatively unexplored. Here, keeled (Cuora mouhotii) and flowerback (C. galbinifrons) box turtles, whose shell cannot and can be completely closed, respectively, were studied. Anterior and posterior closing forces were measured using a force transducer, and the closing time was recorded. The anterior closing force in both turtle species was substantially greater than the posterior closing force, reaching approximately 4-fold in adults. Moreover, the anterior closing time in adults was significantly longer than the posterior closing time. This closing force difference can be attributed to the substantially smaller anterior plastron lobe than the posterior lobe in the two species. Additionally, the anterior and posterior closing forces in both species positively correlated with body weight and showed no relationship with the length of the bridge and hinge. Interspecies comparison showed that the anterior and posterior closing forces were significantly greater (approximately 2–4-fold) in flowerback box turtle than in keeled box turtles, regardless of age, and the closure time was significantly longer in adult flowerback box turtles than in adult keeled box turtles. Although the closing forces in both species showed negative allometry, the increase rate was significantly higher in flowerback box turtle than in keeled box turtle. The closing forces in both species were observed to be approximately 4-fold stronger in adults than in juveniles. No sexual dimorphism concerning the anterior and posterior closing forces was observed in either species. In summary, this is the first study to comparatively uate the anterior and posterior closing ability of box turtles, demonstrating that age, weight, plastron shape, and the degree of shell closure are important factors affecting closing ability.

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