Publications

risk assessment, life history strategies, and turtles: could declines be prevented or predicted?	the process of ecological risk assessment should involve the ability to predict adverse outcomes of particular environmental contaminants or human intrusions. ecological risk assessment generally focuses on populations, communities, and ecosystems, rather than on individual health. we explore the importance of life history strategies of aquatic turtles to their risk from environmental contaminants and other human activities using three examples: the wood turtle clemmys insculpta, a freshwater sp ...	1995	8523473
behavioral rise in body temperature and tachycardia by handling of a turtle (clemmys insculpta).	three turtles, clemmys insculpta, were kept together in a terrarium in a climatic chamber at 18 degrees c, with lights on at 07:00 h and off at 19:00 h. in one corner of the terrarium an infrared lamp produced an operative temperature of 42.5 degrees c, thereby allowing behavioral temperature regulation during the light period. when the turtles were handled only once a day for the purpose of taking cloacal temperature, their body temperature held stable at about 22-23 degrees c. immediately afte ...	2000	10794915
mortality in a wood turtle (clemmys insculpta) collection.		2002	12189600
molecular phylogenetics of emydine turtles: taxonomic revision and the evolution of shell kinesis.	the 10 extant species of emydine turtles represent an array of morphological and ecological forms recognizable and popular among scientists and hobbyists. nevertheless, the phylogenetic affinities of most emydines remain contentious. here, we examine the evolutionary relationships of emydine turtles using 2092 bp of dna encoding the mitochondrial genes cyt b, nd4, and adjacent trnas. these data contain 339 parsimony informative characters that we use to erect hypotheses of relationships for the ...	2002	11884163
rhinoclemmysnema n. g. and three new species of nematodes of the family atractidae (cosmocercoidea), with notes on the helminth fauna of rhinoclemmys pulcherrima (testudines: bataguridae) in costa rica.	rhinoclemmysnema n. g. and three new species of atractid nematodes, namely, atractis costaricaensis n. sp., orientatractis asymmetrica n. sp. and rhinoclemmysnema multilabiatum were recovered from the small and large intestine of rhinoclemmys pulcherrima, the painted wood turtle in the guanacaste conservation area, costa rica. the genera and three species are characterized by the features of the cephalic region and male tail. neopolystoma fentoni (conjuctival sac) and heronimus mollis (lungs) we ...	2006	17125541
the distal forelimb musculature in aquatic and terrestrial turtles: phylogeny or environmental constraints?	we compared the muscular anatomy of the distal front limb in terrestrial and aquatic chelonians to test whether observed differences between the two groups are associated with their divergent lifestyles and locomotor modes. given the different use of the forelimb in the two environments (body support and propulsion on land vs. mainly propulsion in water) we expected that: (1) aquatic and terrestrial turtles would show differences in their muscular anatomy, with aquatic species having more indivi ...	2008	19172731
worm grunting, fiddling, and charming--humans unknowingly mimic a predator to harvest bait.	for generations many families in and around florida's apalachicola national forest have supported themselves by collecting the large endemic earthworms (diplocardia mississippiensis). this is accomplished by vibrating a wooden stake driven into the soil, a practice called "worm grunting". in response to the vibrations, worms emerge to the surface where thousands can be gathered in a few hours. why do these earthworms suddenly exit their burrows in response to vibrations, exposing themselves to p ...	2008	18852902
a phylogeographic analysis of populations of the wood turtle (glyptemys insculpta) throughout its range.	we investigated the phylogeography of wood turtles, glyptemys insculpta, in north america using 750 bp of the mitochondrial control region from 117 individuals sampled at 29 localities across the species' range. a total of 21 haplotypes were identified and little genetic variation was found. the highest pairwise difference was 2%. from nested clade analysis (nca), one main postglacial dispersal route was inferred along the east coast, with subsequent westward dispersal. nca further revealed some ...	2008	17971089
thermoregulation and habitat selection in wood turtles glyptemys insculpta: chasing the sun slowly.	1. it is widely accepted that reptiles are able to regulate behaviourally their body temperature (t(b)), but this generalization is primarily based on studies of lizards and snakes in the temperate zone. because the precision of t(b) regulation may vary considerably between taxa and over geographical ranges, studies of semi-terrestrial turtles in climatic extremes are relevant to the understanding of reptilian thermoregulation. 2. we studied thermoregulation in 21 free-ranging wood turtles (glyp ...	2009	19426255
widespread reproductive variation in north american turtles: temperature, egg size and optimality.	theory predicts the existence of an optimal offspring size that balances the trade-off between offspring fitness and offspring number. however, in wild populations of many species, egg size can still vary from year to year for unknown reasons. here, we hypothesize that among-year variation in population mean egg size of freshwater turtles is partly a consequence of their gonadal sensitivity to seasonal temperatures, a physiological mechanism which principally functions to synchronize reproductio ...	2012	22541670
complex phylogeography in rhinoclemmys melanosterna: conflicting mitochondrial and nuclear evidence suggests past hybridization (testudines: geoemydidae).	we examined differentiation within the colombian wood turtle rhinoclemmys melanosterna, and among r. melanosterna and the closely allied species r. diademata, r.funerea and r. punctularia, based on 1060 base pairs of the mitochondrial cyt b gene. we also assessed the phylogenetic relationships among these species using 2050 bp of mtdna (partial cyt b, 12s and 16s genes) and 3620 bp of nuclear dna (partial rag 1, rag 2, c-mos, r35 and odc genes). there is considerable phylogeographic structuring ...	2013	26438937
three novel herpesviruses of endangered clemmys and glyptemys turtles.	the rich diversity of the world's reptiles is at risk due to significant population declines of broad taxonomic and geographic scope. significant factors attributed to these declines include habitat loss, pollution, unsustainable collection and infectious disease. to investigate the presence and significance of a potential pathogen on populations of critically endangered bog turtles (glyptemys muhlenbergii) as well sympatric endangered wood (g. insculpta) and endangered spotted (clemmys guttata) ...	2015	25875510
isolation of bacillus cereus group from the fecal material of endangered wood turtles.	members of the bacillus cereus group are opportunistic human pathogens. they can be found in a broad range of foods. diarrheal food poisoning and/or emetic type syndromes can result from eating contaminated food. in this study, seven b. cereus group members were isolated from the fecal material of wood turtles (glyptemys insculpta). the isolates were then assessed for the presence of enterotoxin genes (nhea, entfm, hblc, and cytk) using pcr. the most prevalent is the nonhemolytic enterotoxin gen ...	2015	26175111
a mycoplasma species of emydidae turtles in the northeastern usa.	mycoplasma infections can cause significant morbidity and mortality in captive and wild chelonians. as part of a health assessment of endangered bog turtles (glyptemys muhlenbergii) in the northeastern us, choanal and cloacal swabs from these and other sympatric species, including spotted turtles (clemmys guttata), eastern box turtles (terrapene carolina carolina), wood turtles (glyptemys insculpta), and common snapping turtles (chelydra serpentina) from 10 sampling sites in the states (us) of d ...	2015	25574806
draft genome sequence of robinsoniella peoriensis strain wtd, isolated from the fecal material of a wood turtle.	here, we report the draft genome of robinsoniella peoriensis strain wtd, which was isolated from the fecal material of a wood turtle. the genome size was 7,391,415 bp with 41.1 mol% g+c.	2015	25593266
improving herpetological surveys in eastern north america using the environmental dna method.	among vertebrates, herpetofauna has the highest proportion of declining species. detection of environmental dna (edna) is a promising method towards significantly increasing large-scale herpetological conservation efforts. however, the integration of edna results within a management framework requires an evaluation of the efficiency of the method in large natural environments and the calibration of edna surveys with the quantitative monitoring tools currently used by conservation biologists. tow ...	2016	27788021
paternity analysis of wood turtles (glyptemys insculpta) reveals complex mating patterns.	mating system characteristics are of great importance as they may influence male and female reproductive success and reproductive isolation. the wood turtle (glyptemys insculpta) is a terrestrial freshwater species listed as endangered by the international union for conservation of nature. considering its conservation status and the paucity of information currently available on parentage relationship for the species, we performed a microsatellite analysis to study the mating system of wood turtl ...	2017	29149308
discovery of the youngest sex chromosomes reveals first case of convergent co-option of ancestral autosomes in turtles.	most turtle species possess temperature-dependent sex determination (tsd), but genotypic sex determination (gsd) has evolved multiple times independently from the tsd ancestral condition. gsd in animals typically involves sex chromosomes, yet the sex chromosome system of only 9 out of 18 known gsd turtles has been characterized. here, we combine comparative genome hybridization (cgh) and bac clone fluorescent in situ hybridization (bac fish) to identify a macro-chromosome xx/xy system in the gsd ...	2017	26842819
development and validation of rapid environmental dna (edna) detection methods for bog turtle (glyptemys muhlenbergii).	bog turtles (glyptemys muhlenbergii) are listed as species of greatest conservation need (sgcn) for wildlife action plans in every state it occurs and multi-state efforts are underway to better characterize extant populations and prioritize restoration efforts. however, traditional sampling methods can be ineffective due to the turtle's wetland habitat, small size, and burrowing nature. molecular methods, such as qpcr, provide the ability to overcome this challenge by effectively quantifying min ...	2019	31725720
concurrent visual encounter sampling validates edna selectivity and sensitivity for the endangered wood turtle (glyptemys insculpta).	environmental dna (edna) has been used to record the presence of many different organisms in several different aquatic and terrestrial environments. although edna has been demonstrated as a useful tool for the detection of invasive and/or cryptic and declining species, this approach is subject to the same considerations that limit the interpretation of results from traditional survey techniques (e.g. imperfect detection). the wood turtle is a cryptic semi-aquatic species that is declining across ...	2019	31017960
impact of natural resource extraction on thermal properties of wood turtle (glyptemys insculpta) habitat.	one of the main threats to freshwater turtle populations is habitat destruction, which occurs as a result of human activities such as infrastructure development, forestry, aggregate extraction, and agriculture. however, the impacts of these activities on thermoregulatory opportunities for turtles are not well understood. we examined the impacts of forestry and aggregate extraction on thermal characteristics of wood turtle (glyptemys insculpta) habitat in the sudbury district, ontario, by measuri ...	2019	31466788
serpinema cayennensis n. sp. (nematoda: camallanidae), a parasite of the freshwater turtle rhinoclemmys punctularia daudin (reptilia: testudines: geoemydidae) from french guiana: morphology and phylogenetic relationships with other turtle-parasitising camallanids.	the genus serpinema was erected from the genus camallanus to include species parasitising freshwater turtles. following this, the taxonomic status of serpinema was challenged by different authors considering it as a subgenus or junior synonym of camallanus. several specimens of these nematodes were retrieved from the spot-legged wood turtle rhinoclemmys punctularia from cayenne, french guiana. these specimens clearly differed from previously reported serpinema and camallanus species parasitising ...	2019	31715977
effects of brodifacoum and diphacinone exposure on four species of reptiles: tissue residue levels and survivorship.	anticoagulant rodenticides are used worldwide to control pest rodent species. however, the risks posed to non-target reptiles have not been well characterized. in this study, 46 giant ameivas (ameiva ameiva), 39 boa constrictors (boa constrictor), 33 wood turtles (rhinoclemmys pulcherrima), and 47 green iguanas (iguana iguana) were orally dosed with one of two levels of either diphacinone or brodifacoum anticoagulant in propylene glycol solutions. dosages were derived using daily food intake (df ...	2020	31858711