DNA Samples Reveal Mating Patterns of Endangered Sea Turtles

A close watch has been kept on the mating pattern of the critically endangered hawkbill sea turtles in order to build strong conservation measures.

A team of researchers from the New University of East Anglia along with a team of conservationists tracked the mating habits of the endangered sea turtle, as not much information is available of their breeding habits since they are found underwater far from sea.

For the study, they concentrated on the turtles residing on Cousine Island in the Seychelles, as this island is the nesting ground for the hawkbill turtle.

The hawkbill turtle was listed as critically endangered in IUCN in 1996 as its population faced a threat from the international trade in tortoise shells. Their shells are used as decorative materials.

On carefully analyzing the DNA samples from female turtles and their offspring, researchers noticed that the female hawkbill turtle mates at the beginning of the year and they store the sperms for up to 75 days. They use this stored sperm to lay multiple nests. This shows that the turtles are mainly monogamous and don't tend to re-mate during the season.

"The good news is that each female is pairing up with a different male which suggests that there are plenty of males out there. This may be why we still see high levels of genetic variation in the population, which is crucial for its long term survival .This endangered species does seem to be doing well in the Seychelles at least," lead researcher Dr. David Richardson, from UEA's school of Biological Sciences, said in a press statement.

The study was published in the journal Molecular Ecology.