Aggressive Interactions and Mating in Wild Populations of the European Pond Turtle Emys orbicularis

Sexual size dimorphism, aggressive interactions, and mating events were recorded in two populations of the European pond turtle, Emys orbicularis, in central Italy. Females were significantly larger than males in both populations. Fighting between males was observed frequently, and ranking the males...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of herpetology 1999-06, Vol.33 (2), p.258-263
Main Authors: Rovero, Francesco, Lebboroni, Marco, Chelazzi, Guido
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal aggression
Behavior
Emys orbicularis
Female animals
Freshwater
Human aggression
Male animals
Mating behavior
Ponds
Population ecology
Sexual dimorphism
Social interaction
Turtles
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Sexual size dimorphism, aggressive interactions, and mating events were recorded in two populations of the European pond turtle, Emys orbicularis, in central Italy. Females were significantly larger than males in both populations. Fighting between males was observed frequently, and ranking the males according to the outcome of hostile interactions revealed consistent quasi-linear hierarchies in both populations. Rank was not related to males mass. Minor aggressive patterns, involving males, females, and juveniles, occurred in both populations, particularly during basking. Several males were observed mounting more than one female, and most females were mounted by more than one male during the same breeding season. No correlation was found between male rank and total number of matings, or total number of females mounted by each male. Social interactions of Emys orbicularis are discussed with reference to habitat preference and phylogenetic relationships among emydids.
ISSN:0022-1511
1937-2418
DOI:10.2307/1565723