Socioecology of the Midland Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta marginata)

Abstract

The cryptic nature of sociality in many reptile species suggests that their social behaviour may indeed be more complex and varied than previous research supposes. I propose that the Midland Painted Turtle (MPT; Chrysemys picta marginata) demonstrates cryptic social organization in its nesting and basking behaviours. In this thesis, I aim to: i) describe patterns of social organization in MPT, and ii) investigate influences on the social behaviour of MPT. In Chapter I, I investigate the potential for kin-bias in the communal nesting behaviour of MPT. I show that this bias is not present in MPT, and suggest that environmental factors and body size largely govern MPT nesting behaviour. In Chapter II, I investigate social organization in basking aggregations of MPT. I show that kin-bias is present in this behaviour. Further, I demonstrate that sex, body size, and capture frequency of MPT affect their social behaviour.