Ethogram of Sacalia quadriocellata (Reptilia : Testudines : Geoemydidae) in captivity
Document Type
Journal article
Source Publication
Journal of Herpetology
Publication Date
6-2009
Volume
43
Issue
2
First Page
318
Last Page
325
Publisher
Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles
Abstract
To construct an ethogram of Sacalia quadriocellata and introduce coding system into chelonian behavior research for quantitative comparison, 15 captive S. quadriocellata (eight females and seven males) were observed for one year using a digital surveillance system, and an ethogram constructed. Fourteen types of states and 84 types of events were recorded. Seventy-five behaviors were defined and described, and these were classified into eight categories of behavior: Feeding, Elimination, Conflict, Alert, Rest, Locomotion, Courtship, and Other. Feeding, Elimination, and Locomotion are frequent behaviors, whereas Conflict and Other behaviors are seldom observed. Mainly, this may be caused by environmental conditions that eliminate these plastic behaviors (e.g., Conflict and Other behaviors) and keep the nonplastic behaviors (e.g., Feeding, Elimination, and Locomotion). Finally, the comparison between S. quadriocellata and other chelonian species indicate that the behavioral patterns are similar on the whole, but the Conflict behaviors of S. quadriocellata are milder than other species.
DOI
10.1670/07-277R4.1
Print ISSN
00221511
E-ISSN
19372418
Publisher Statement
Copyright © 2009 Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles. Access to external full text or publisher's version may require subscription.
Full-text Version
Publisher’s Version
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Liu, Y.-X., Wang, J., Shi, H.-T., Murphy, R. W., Hong, M.-L., He, B,...Fu, L.-R. (2009). Ethogram of Sacalia quadriocellata (Reptilia: Testudines: Geoemydidae) in Captivity. Journal of Herpetology, 43(2), 318-325. doi: 10.1670/07-277R4.1