Study finds rare juveni...( In 1966 when scientist-student Whit...)

In 1966, when scientist-student Whit Gibbons captured his first Blanding's turtle while working on his Ph.D. at Michigan State University's Kellogg Biological Station, the turtle was almost as old as he was. Finding juveniles of this species is rare but Gibbons has kept at it. Now a professor at the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory and working under a grant from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Gibbons has found the smallest and the youngest non hatchling Blanding's turtle ever recorded. It is just two and one-half inches long and yet is four years old.

Blanding's turtles, a species of special concern in most states, are long-lived animals, some of them living to more than 75 years of age. Age is determined by examining the rings of the shell of the turtle, called "annuli." Full maturity is not reached for 15-20 years so one might think finding juveniles would be a snap. Not so, according to Gibbons, who says the difficulty comes from identifying where juvenile Blanding turtles live.

"That's what makes finding this individual so exciting," he says. Future field expeditions may be expected to locate even more juveniles now that an area has been identified as being hospitable to the young.

Gibbons has been studying the life history traits and ecology of this species under the undisturbed habitat conditions provided by the Kellogg Biological Station during most years since his graduate work at Michigan State. He spent a sabbatical year at the University of Michigan in 1975-76 and is currently an adjunct professor of zoology at Michigan State University. He has authored more than 100 scientific publications on turtles and one book on the subject. He has captured or recaptured a total of more than 30,000 turtles over the course of his research both in Michigan and at the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory.

Turtle conservation has grown in importance over the course of Gibbons' research with more sp
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Contact: Rosemary Forrest
forrest@srel.edu
803-725-2473
DOE/Savannah River Ecology Laboratory
23-Jul-2000