Non-random mating within an Island rookery of Hawaiian hawksbill turtles: demographic discontinuity at a small coastline scale.

ABSTRACT: Hawksbill sea turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) from the Hawaiian archipelago form a small and genetically isolated population, consisting of only a few tens of individuals breeding annually. Most females nest on the island of Hawai'i, but little is known about the demographics of this rookery. This study used genetic relatedness, inferred from 135 microhaplotype markers, to determine breeding sex-ratios, estimate female nesting frequency and assess relationships between individuals nesting on different beaches. Samples were collected during the 2017 nesting season and final data included 13 nesting females and 1002 unhatched embryos, salvaged from 41 nests, of which 13 had no observed mother. Results show that most females used a single nesting beach laying 1-5 nests each. From fema

SUBMITTER: Horne JB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10189603 | biostudies-literature | 2023 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature