Assessing age in the desert tortoise Gopherus agassizii: Testing skeletochronology with individuals of known age
Endangered Species Research
By: A.J. Curtin, G.R. Zug, P.A. Medica, and J.R. Spotila
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Abstract
Eight desert tortoises Gopherus agassizii from a long-term mark-recapture study in the Mojave Desert, Nevada, USA, afforded an opportunity to examine the accuracy of skeletochronological age estimation on tortoises from a seasonal, yet environmentally erratic environment. These 8 tortoises were marked as hatchlings or within the first 2 yr of life, and their carcasses were salvaged from predator kills. Using d blind protocol, 2 skeletochronological protocols (correction-factor and ranking) provided age estimates for a set of 4 bony elements (humerus, scapula, femur, ilium) from these tortoises of known age. The age at death of the tortoises ranged from 15 to 50 yr. The most accurate protocol - ranking using the growth layers within each of the 4 elements - provided estimates from 21 to 47 yr, with the highest accuracy from the ilia. The results indicate that skeletochronological age estimation provides a reasonably accurate method for assessing the age at death of desert tortoises and, if used with a large sample of individuals, will provide a valuable tool for examining age-related mortality parameters in desert tortoise and likely in other gopher tortoises (Gopherus). ?? Inter-Research 2008.
Suggested Citation
Curtin, A., Zug, G., Medica, P., and Spotila, J., 2008, Assessing age in the desert tortoise Gopherus agassizii: Testing skeletochronology with individuals of known age: Endangered Species Research, v. 5, no. 1, p. 21-27, https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00108.
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | Assessing age in the desert tortoise Gopherus agassizii: Testing skeletochronology with individuals of known age |
| Series title | Endangered Species Research |
| DOI | 10.3354/esr00108 |
| Volume | 5 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Year Published | 2008 |
| Language | English |
| Larger Work Type | Article |
| Larger Work Subtype | Journal Article |
| Larger Work Title | Endangered Species Research |
| First page | 21 |
| Last page | 27 |