Turtle hatchlings show behavioral types that are robust to developmental manipulations.

Area of Science:

• Animal Behavior
• Developmental Biology
• Ecology

Background:

• Individual variation in behavior is common across species but its underlying mechanisms are often unclear.
• Understanding the sources of behavioral variation is crucial for evolutionary and ecological studies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the influence of early environmental manipulations on behavioral variation in red-eared slider turtle hatchlings.
• To determine if hatchlings exhibit consistent behavioral types (repeatability) and if these behaviors are correlated.
• To assess the predictive power of righting response for ecologically relevant behaviors like dispersal.

Main Methods:

• Incubation manipulations included estrone sulfate, corticosterone exposure, and thermal fluctuations.
• Behavioral assays measured righting response and exploration in hatchling turtles.
• Repeatability of behaviors was assessed across days and months, and correlations were analyzed.

Main Results:

• Early developmental manipulations did not affect hatchling behavior, indicating robustness.
• Significant clutch effects suggest potential genetic or maternal influences on behavior.
• Righting response and exploration were repeatable and positively correlated, supporting the existence of behavioral types.
• Righting response was not predictive of field dispersal ability.

Conclusions:

• Red-eared slider turtle hatchlings display consistent, repeatable behavioral types.
• Behavioral consistency is robust to early developmental manipulations, with clutch effects indicating other influences.
• The interpretation of righting response as a proxy for dispersal ability in turtles needs revision.