新疆首次发现的侏罗纪龟类

本文记述了新疆准噶尔盆地的一件龟化石,名为准噶尔新疆龟,新属、新种 (Xinjiangchelys junggarensis, Gen. et sp. nov.),其时代可能为中侏罗世.这是新疆地区侏罗纪龟类的首次记录.早、中侏罗世是龟类的早期进化阶段,国外材料甚少.文章在讨论了新疆龟的系统分类后,综述了我国早、中侏罗世的龟类记录,并结合泰国近年发现的晚三叠世的龟类,认为亚洲是迄今所知拥有龟鳖类进化各时期记录最完全的地区,是探索龟类起源和早期进化的重要地区之一.     

龟类温度依赖型性别决定的保护生物学意义

龟类的性别决定方式有基因型性别决定(GSD)和温度依赖型性别决定(TSD)两种类型许多龟类都为TSD型性别决定。研究龟类TSD不但在揭示动物性别决定的进化规律方面具有深远意义,而且在濒危物种保护方面也具有重要的应用价值主要对龟类TSD理论在保护生物学上的重要应用进行了介绍和探讨。     

海南岛淡水龟类区系特点及保护优先性分析

海南岛是我国淡水龟类分布较为集中、物种丰富度高、动物区系独特的地区,已知的淡水龟有2科8属11种,占全国淡水龟种数(24种)的46％。海南岛淡水龟物种密度为3．2种／10^4km^2,均为东洋界成分,其中华南区种4种,占36．4％;华中-华南区共有的种7种,占63．6％;海南特有种2种,占岛内淡水龟种数的18．2％。海南岛淡水龟占华南地区淡水龟种数(19种)的57．9％。海南与广东、广西和香港的淡水龟类区系关系也十分密切,与它们的生物相似值分别为0．76、0．64和0．47。目前,中国75％的淡水龟类濒危,海南岛81．8％的淡水龟类濒危。分析表明,海南岛应是我国淡水龟类资源优先保育的地区。     

四川自贡大山铺的龟化石

四川自贡大山铺富产中侏罗世的龟类。这批化石,除个别几件已有记述外,其余更多保存在自贡恐龙博物馆的标本均未报道。本文除对它们进行系统记述外,并综观我国迄今已知中侏罗世的龟类,建立一新科,成渝龟科(Chengyuchclyidae fam.nov.),解决了我国这一时期龟类长期未定的归科问题。     

消息报导与学术动态

粵北“紅层”中发現了巨型龟类和恐龙蛋化石 1962年冬,中国科学院古脊椎动物与古人类研究所根据广东省地貭局提供的线索,派出工作队到南雄盆地进行了两个半月的脊椎动物化石調查与采集工作。他們在南雄盆地发現了巨型龟(可能是海龟)、小型恐龙、大小不等的恐龙蛋和鱷类及原始哺乳动物等化石。巨型龟类在我国还是初次发現。恐龙蛋化石在我国华南也是首次发現。     

龟类的养殖与保护

养殖龟类要注意选好种,做好消毒,保持适宜的温度和提供必要的光照,疾病重在预防。近年来随着利用范围和强度的增加,我国龟类的养殖发展迅猛,已形成了较大的产业。但存在技术和管理相对落后的问题,特别是保护意识有待加强。若能规范管理,加强保护,守法经营,龟类养殖必能产生巨大的经济效益,也将会成为龟类保护的有效途径。     

《中国贸易龟类检索图鉴》简介

中国龟类资源丰富,有长期被食用、观赏、养殖等历史.近20、30年来,我国龟类资源有明显被过度利用的趋势,然而从国外大量进口龟以满足国内的需求,会影响到其他国家的龟类资源,这一趋势已引起国内外相关专家的极大关注.     

安徽古新世的龟类

本文记述了安徽古新世龟科的一新属(安徽龟属)、两新种(小市安徽龟、潜山安徽龟)以及该属的一个未定种。古新世是龟科迄今确知的最早地史记录,目前报导尚不多。就整个龟鳖类来看,古新世的材料也是比较少的。连同本文记述的,我国已知古新世龟鳖类的记录共有2科、3属、5种。     

海南淡水龟类贸易现状与管理建议

2002–2004年,对海南野生淡水龟类贸易进行了调查。调查发现海南所有市县都存在野生龟类贸易,有野生龟类贸易的农贸市场22个,占调查农贸市场总数的19.6%;有野生龟类贸易的乡镇64个,占调查乡镇总数的65.3%;野生龟类收购点103个,野生淡水龟共489只。野生龟贸易所涉及的淡水龟类共10种,占海南淡水龟分布总种数的90%以上,其中3种是国家二级重点保护动物,6种是列入《濒危野生动植物种国际贸易公约》附录II的物种。按照《中国濒危动物红皮书(两栖类和爬行类)》,1种为极危物种,8种为濒危物种,1种为易危物种。在个体数量方面,以锯缘摄龟(Pyxideamouhotii)、黄额盒龟(Cuoragalbinifrons)、四眼斑水龟(Sacaliaquadriocellata)和中华花龟(Ocadiasinensis)较多,平胸龟(Platysternonmegacephalum)、地龟(Geoemydaspengleri)、中华鳖(Pelodiscussinensis)较少,三线闭壳龟(Cuoratrifasciata)、黄喉拟水龟(Mauremysmutica)和山瑞鳖(Paleasteindachneri)极其稀少。龟类市场价格差异很大,从2002年到2004年,各种龟的价格都有不同幅度的上涨。分析表明:淡水龟类非法捕猎与贸易在海南普遍存在,过度捕猎对海南淡水龟类构成了严重威胁,而野生龟贸易则是导致过度捕猎的主要原因。本文在分析和探讨海南野生淡水龟类贸易的现状、原     

Acquisition of Salmonella flora by turtle hatchlings on commercial turtle farms

A commercial turtle pond in South Louisiana was studied to identify the mechanism by which turtle hatchlings acquire Salmonella flora. The visceral organs and mature eggs removed from 31 adult gravid female turtles over the course of two egg-laying seasons and from 37 adult females during one winter dormant period were examined bacteriologically for Salmonella. Pond water, egg nest soil, and hatchlings produced by eggs removed from the oviducts and nest soil were also tested. Eighty-eight turtles hatched from eggs removed from the oviducts of 15 turtles at necropsy did not excrete or harbor systemically Salmonella, nor were these pathogens isolated from ovarian tissue or immature eggs. The findings suggest transovarian transmission of these pathogens does not occur frequently. Turtles hatched from eggs retrieved from soil nests 1 to 2 h after deposition harbor and excrete these organisms. This result coupled with the isolation of these pathogens from the cloaca, colon contents, and bursal fluid from 18 females captured in the act of egg laying supports the cloaca to egg and nest soil to egg mode for salmonellae infection in the resultant hatchling. Salmonella arizonae and Salmonella serogroups B, C2, and E1 were isolated from the cloaca, colon contents, pond water, and nest soil, and were excreted by hatchlings produced from eggs removed from the soil nests. These same serogroups were isolated from the colon contents of 19 of 37 females tested during the dormant period, suggesting the salmonellae persist in the pond environment in the adult throughout the year.     

Dynamics of turtle cones

The response dynamics of turtle photoreceptors (cones) were studied by the cross-correlation method using a white-noise-modulated light stimulus. Incremental responses were characterized by the kernels. White-noise-evoked responses with a peak-to-peak excursion of greater than 5 mV were linear, with mean square errors of approximately 8%, a degree of linearity comparable to the horizontal cell responses. Both a spot (0.17 mm diam) and a large field of light produced almost identical kernels. The amplitudes of receptor kernels obtained at various mean irradiances fitted approximately the Weber-Fechner relationship and the mean levels controlled both the amplitude and the response dynamics; kernels were slow and monophasic at low mean irradiance and were fast and biphasic at high mean irradiance. This is a parametric change and is a piecewise linearization. Horizontal cell kernels evoked by the small spot of light were monophasic and slower than the receptor kernels produced by the same stimulus. Larger spots of light or a steady annular illumination transformed the slow horizontal cell kernel into a fast kernel similar to those of the receptors. The slowing down of the kernel waveform was modeled by a simple low-pass circuit and the presumed feedback from horizontal cells onto cones did not appear to play a major role.     

Spatial distribution of turtle barnacles on the green sea turtle, Chelonia mydas

Distribution patterns of epibiotic barnacles on green sea turtles were investigated in waters neighboring Okinawa, Japan. A number of barnacle species were found to coexist on the turtles and were classified into three genera: Chelonibia, Platylepas and Stomatolepas. Attachment sites on the turtles varied among the barnacle species, suggesting that there is niche partitioning with respect to their microhabitat selection. Turtle bodies offer a “patchy” environment for barnacles, so we also analyzed coexistence patterns in the context of an aggregation model. Within each genus, individual barnacles showed a clumped distribution. The different genera do not have mutually exclusive distribution patterns, but instead occur on the same turtle to various degrees. However, when turtles were divided into two size classes, both the level of aggregation and the degree of interspecific overlap among the barnacles was significantly lower on large turtles. We suggest that obtaining basic information on turtle epibionts will shed light on the biology of wild turtles, which is still largely unknown.     

Fungal infection of sea turtle eggs in the sea turtle hatcheries in Peninsular Malaysia

Fungal infection in sea turtle nests has become a potential threat to sea turtle embryos. We screened the hatchery nest sand, eggshells of failed eggs, and stillbirths of green turtles and hawksbills collected from hatcheries in Malacca, Pahang, Perak and Terengganu for the presence of fungi. The DNA sequence of the ITS region of the three highest occurring isolated fungi confirmed that these species were Pseudallescheria ellipsoidea (35.4%), Scedosporium aurantiacum (27.2%), and Fusarium solani (22.0%). Morphological characteristics of these fungi were recorded. Although the total fungi abundance had no significant effect on hatching success (p > 0.05), the abundance of P. ellipsoidea significantly increased mortality in the nests (r = 0.70, p < 0.05). Future research should focus on understanding the biological aspects of this species to establish a more effective mitigation technique for the prevention of fungal infection of sea turtle eggs and hatchery employees.     

Metabolism of depleted turtle bladder

Summary Oxygen consumption, glycogen content, transmural potential difference (PD), and short-circuit current (SCC) were measured in fresh turtle hemibladder sacs and in matching sacs depleted by 18 hr of incubation in aerated, substrate-free Ringer's solution. Percent of original values after depletion were: oxygen consumption, 61%; glycogen content, 36%; PD, 28%; SCC, 19%. PD and SCC responded to addition of substrate (5.5mm glucose plus 2mm pyruvate) by a lag period of approximately 2 hr followed by progressive increases lasting for many hours. Other experiments utilized split bladders. The epithelium and adhering connective tissue (mucosal fraction) were separated from the underlying smooth muscle and connective tissue (serosal fraction) and the oxygen consumption and glycogen content of slices of the two fractions determined. Mucosal oxygen consumption declined to 48% of the original value during depletion while serosal oxygen consumption (initially much lower than mucosal) was well-maintained at 95% of the original value. Substantial net synthesis of glycogen took place in both fractions of depleted bladders after addition of substrate. The ratio of moles of oxygen consumed to moles of glucose (from glycogen) disappearing during the 18-hr depletion period was approximately 5.5 for serosal tissue and within the range 30 to 61 for mucosal tissue. The mucosal ratio was incompatible with the utilization of glycogen as the major endogenous substrate during depletion under aerobic conditions. It is suggested that the oxidation of lipid supports most of the endogenous metabolism in the mucosal tissue of the turtle bladder.