Moving in the real world: tortoises take the plunge to cross steep steps

Despite exhibiting low velocity and limited agility, many tortoises undertake large scale movements and must overcome various obstacles, notably in populations living in hilly or rocky habitats. Although crucial, studies exploring how tortoises move in complex and irregular environments are scarce....

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Published inBiological journal of the Linnean Society Vol. 108; no. 4; pp. 719 - 726
Main Authors Golubović, Ana, Arsovski, Dragan, Ajtić, Rastko, Tomović, Ljiljana, Bonnet, Xavier
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.04.2013
Oxford University Press
Linnean Society of London
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Summary:Despite exhibiting low velocity and limited agility, many tortoises undertake large scale movements and must overcome various obstacles, notably in populations living in hilly or rocky habitats. Although crucial, studies exploring how tortoises move in complex and irregular environments are scarce. In this context, we examined an important behavioural trait: how tortoises (Testudo hermanni) deal with step‐like obstacles. In their natural habitat, individuals were positioned in a challenging situation: they were placed on a bench approximately 50 cm high, and were observed over a 10‐min period. We compared the behaviour of the tortoises (taking a risk to ‘jump’ or waiting) from two populations living in contrasted habitats: flat versus rugged (crisscrossed by cliffs and rocky steps). Individuals from the flat habitat were reluctant to jump, whereas most tortoises from the rugged habitat jumped. Immature tortoises were less willing to jump compared to larger and more experienced adults. These results suggest that challenging habitats increase boldness. In addition to fundamental findings, these results may have conservation value and assist in improving translocation strategies for endangered tortoise populations. © 2013 The Linnean Society of London
Bibliography:istex:AB740F502413C6B235C92747173D8B751FF46CCF
Ministry of Education and Science of Republic of Serbia - No. 173043
ArticleID:BIJ12000
ark:/67375/WNG-B4LGZFHW-L
ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
ISSN:0024-4066
1095-8312
DOI:10.1111/bij.12000