Diamondback terrapin hatchlings are usually about the size of a quarter and take three years to reach the size of a baseball. During this time, the turtles are small enough to be prey for many animals and they are easily crushed on roads.
The "headstart" program at BC aims to eliminate some of the terrapins' difficulties in surviving by allowing them time to eat and grow under heat lamps during the months that they would normally be hibernating. In May, when the environmental scholars plan to release them, the terrapins will have grown to be the size of a 3-year-old turtle in only a few short months.
While some people worry that capturing the turtles will take away their chance to learn survival skills, Cava said the terrapins already possess all the knowledge they need to stay alive in the wild. There have been other studies done that show that time spent in captivity did not compromise the turtles' ability to survive in their natural habitat, she said.
Lanzieri's participation in the project extends from helping to find the hatchlings to caring for them in the lab. Her research project studies the effect of temperature conditions before the terrapins hatch and how this affects their physical development. Her prediction is that the genotype of the species will have no direct correlation with the phenotype of the turtles once they have hatched.
One of the unique characteristics of the diamondback terrapin is that the females can store the sperm from several male terrapins with which she has mated over a period of time. Lanzieri predicts that it is the temperature of the nests that affects the turtle's appearances and not their genes, since more often than not "brothers and sisters" look very similar but do not possess the same father. She also plans to study the effects of global warming on the turtle population, as warmer temperatures tend to develop more female terrapins, which in turn could lead to an imbalance in the population of the species.
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