Hierarchies and Dominance Behaviors in European Pond Turtle (Emys orbicularis galloitalica) Hatchlings in a Controlled Environment.

ABSTRACT: Few species of reptiles are known to establish stable social structures and among these, chelonians provided scarce and conflicting results. Moreover, studies on turtles are usually performed on adult individuals. In this study, we checked whether and when hatchlings of the European Pond Turtle (Emys orbicularis galloitalica) established stable hierarchical structures in their first year of life, whether hierarchies were stable in time and how steady they were. We also verified whether social ranks were associated to the individuals' size. We observed dyadic interactions daily within three small groups of turtles reared in a controlled environment for seven months. After two months, the hatchlings started to interact and progressively established stable hierarchical structures. Howe

SUBMITTER: Masin S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7552232 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature