Female loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta L.) rarely remate during nesting season.

ABSTRACT: The goal of this study was to assess the consequences of single versus multiple paternity by identifying paternity of clutches per female to identify whether there were detectable costs or benefits. Multiple mating can occur when the benefits of mating outweigh the costs, but if costs and benefits are equal, no pattern is expected. Previous research on loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) populations found male-biased breeding sex ratios and multiple mating by many females nesting in southwestern Florida. A sample of nesting loggerhead females who laid more than one nest over the course of the season and a subset of their hatchlings were examined from 36 clutches in 2016 on Sanibel Island, Florida. Males that fathered hatchlings in the first clutch sampled were identified in subs

SUBMITTER: Lasala JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6972835 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature