Patterns of Paternity in Clutches of Giant Amazon River Turtles, Podocnemis expansa, from Venezuela

Authors

R. Brigham Dastrup, Brigham Young University
Dr. Jack W. Sites, Brigham Young University
Devon E. Pearse, Brigham Young University

Keywords

paternity, Amazon river turtles, Podocnemis expansa, Venezuela

College

Life Sciences

Department

Biology

Abstract

In recent years, molecular genetic data have shown that multiple paternity occurs in groups of offspring in many taxa. Though multiple paternity has been found in a wide variety of turtles (Pearse and Avise 2001), limited clutch size and/or small number of total clutches assayed has limited the evaluation of the frequency of multiple paternity within the population or the relative contributions of the respective sires. I have analyzed data from 32 clutches of the giant river turtle Podocnemis expansa from the Orinoco River in Venezuela and present here results on 29 of these clutches. Large clutch sizes of this turtle permit accurate assessment of multiple paternity, as well as skew in paternity within multiply-sired clutches(25 clutches, mean sample size=21.3, range, 10-25; 4 clutches mean sample size=72.25, range, 70-76). Results from this study add to the growing body of knowledge on turtle mating systems, and extend previous paternity research on this species (Valenzuela 2000).

Recommended Citation

Dastrup, R. Brigham; Sites, Dr. Jack W.; and Pearse, Devon E. (2013) "Patterns of Paternity in Clutches of Giant Amazon River Turtles, Podocnemis expansa, from Venezuela," Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 2013: Iss. 1, Article 1003.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jur/vol2013/iss1/1003