Meeting Abstract

P3.69  Saturday, Jan. 5  Does sex predict the frequency and type of scute anomalies in diamondback terrapins (Malaclemys terrapin terrapin)? PERRY, ML*; BAKER, PJ; Swarthmore College; Swarthmore College margaret.leigh.perry@gmail.com

Scute anomalies are irregularities in the scales covering the bones of a turtle�s shell. Previous research has shown that high incubation temperatures increase the frequency of scute anomalies in the diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin terrapin). Since diamondback terrapins have temperature-dependent sex determination, with higher incubation temperatures producing females, female terrapins should have more scute anomalies than males. Adult and juvenile male and female diamondback terrapins were trapped in two salt marsh creeks in southern New Jersey during June, July, and September 2007. The type and frequency of scute anomalies in these turtles were recorded and compared between the sexes. The overall frequency of anomalies appears to be higher in females than males, but when different types of anomalies are considered separately there is no consistent relationship between sex and anomaly frequency. Extra or split marginal scutes tend to occur in males, while split cervical scutes, anomalous vertebral and costal scutes, and plastral anomalies are more common in females. It appears that incubation temperature may influence different types of anomalies to different degrees, perhaps because certain anomalies are genetically determined while others are developmental in origin.