Skip to content
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Menu
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Menu
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
agricultural and biological sciences
Sexual dimorphism in the Greek tortoise: A test of the body shape hypothesis
Chelonian Conservation and Biology, Volume 7, No. 1, Year 2008
Notification
URL copied to clipboard!
Description
In most animal species, it is expected that females should exhibit a greater abdominal volume than males to hold the progeny, when compared with females, males should exhibit more developed attributes that enhance mobility. We tested this hypothesis in the Greek tortoise. In chelonians, a reduction of the openings in the shell improves protection against predation but also constrains the abdominal volume and limits the space available to move the limbs. As expected, our data show that the shell provides a larger abdominal volume relative to tortoise size in females than in males. In males, deep notches in the shell and a reduction of several plastron plates offer more freedom to the limbs and to the tail; these characteristics presumably enhance mating success. Further studies are necessary to assess the applicability of these results in other chelonians, notably freshwater and marine turtles. © 2008 Chelonian Research Foundation.
Authors & Co-Authors
Kaddour, Khalid Ben
Morocco, Marakech
Université Cadi Ayyad
France, Paris
Cnrs Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
El Mouden, El Hassan
Morocco, Marakech
Université Cadi Ayyad
Slimani, Tahar
Morocco, Marakech
Université Cadi Ayyad
Bonnet, Xavier
France, Paris
Cnrs Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Lagarde, Frédéric
France, Paris
Cnrs Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Statistics
Citations: 39
Authors: 5
Affiliations: 2
Identifiers
Doi:
10.2744/CCB-0649.1
ISSN:
10718443
Research Areas
Sexual And Reproductive Health
Participants Gender
Female