Nocturnal basking in freshwater turtles: A global assessment

McKnight, Donald T., Ard, Kendall, Auguste, Renoir J., Barhadiya, Gaurav, Benard, Michael F., Boban, Paige, Dillon, Martin L., Downs, Colleen T., DeGregorio, Brett A., Glorioso, Brad M., Goodman, Rachel M., Hird, Coen, Hollender, Ethan C., Kennedy, Malcolm, Kidman, Rosie A., Massey, Andrhea, McGovern, Pearson, Mühlenhaupt, Max, Ostovar, Kayhan, Podgorski, Danusia, Price, Cormac, Reinke, Beth A., Streeting, Louise M., Venezia, Jane, Young, Jeanne, and Nordberg, Eric J. (2023) Nocturnal basking in freshwater turtles: A global assessment. Global Ecology and Conservation, 43. e02444.

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Abstract

Diurnal basking (“sunning”) is common in many ectotherms and is generally thought to be a behavioural mechanism for thermoregulation. Recent studies have reported the occurrence of nocturnal basking in a few distantly-related species of freshwater turtles, but the true extent of this behaviour is unknown, and it may be underreported due to sampling biases (e.g., not surveying for turtles at night). Therefore, we initiated a global, collaborative effort to systematically document and quantify basking activity (diurnal and nocturnal) across a wide range of freshwater turtle species and locations. We conducted camera trap or manual surveys in North America, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia, Africa, the Seychelles, and Australia. We collected 873,111 trail camera photographs (25,273 hrs of search effort) and obtained data on 29 freshwater turtle species from seven families. Nocturnal basking was documented in 13 species, representing six families (Chelidae, Emydidae, Geoemydidae, Kinosternidae, Pelomedusidae, and Trionychidae), including representatives in Central America, Trinidad and Tobago, Africa, the Seychelles, Asia, and Australia. Nocturnal basking was restricted to tropical and sub-tropical locations, suggesting that environmental temperature plays a role in this behaviour. However, the primary factors driving nocturnal basking are yet to be determined and may vary geographically and by species. The frequency and duration of nocturnal basking varied among species and seasons, but nocturnal basking events were often substantially longer than diurnal events. This is the first study to document a widespread occurrence of nocturnal basking, and our results suggest that nocturnal basking may be a common, although overlooked, aspect of many species’ ecology.

Item ID: 78303
Item Type: Article (Research - C1)
ISSN: 2351-9894
Keywords: Behaviour, Chelonian, Ecology, Thermoregulation, Trail cameras
Copyright Information: © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Date Deposited: 10 Aug 2023 00:39
FoR Codes: 31 BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES > 3103 Ecology > 310304 Freshwater ecology @ 100%
SEO Codes: 18 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT > 1803 Fresh, ground and surface water systems and management > 180303 Fresh, ground and surface water biodiversity @ 100%
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