Nocturnal emergence facilitated by thermally‐induced hatching in the Chinese softshell turtle, Pelodiscus sinensis

ABSTRACT: Abstract The coincidence of hatching and emergence events with favorable conditions is crucial for turtle survival. Nocturnal emergence has been widely documented across marine and freshwater turtles, and has long been suggested as an adaptive behavior that reduces risks of heat stress and predation. To our knowledge, however, studies related to nocturnal emergence have mainly focused on the post‐hatching behaviors of turtles, and very few experimental studies have been performed to investigate the effects of hatching time on the distribution of emergence times over the course of a day. Here, we visually monitored the activity of the Chinese softshell turtle (Pelodiscus sinensis)—a shallow‐nesting freshwater turtle—from hatching to emergence. Our study provides evidence for the novel findi

SUBMITTER: Zhu Q 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10034484 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature