One scute ring per year in Testudo graeca? A novel method to identify ring deposition patterns in tortoises.

Roberto Rodríguez-Caro, Eva Graciá, Renata Morais Dos Santos, José D. Anadón and Andrés Gimenez. 2015. Acta Herpetologica. 10 (2): 77-84. A reliable estimation of individuals’ age is helpful to conduct demographic studies on wildlife populations. In tortoises, many studies have estimated individuals’ age by counting growth rings on their scutes, assuming one ring per year (1:1 ratio). However, the accuracy of this method is controversial. The ring deposition pattern can vary
depending on species, or even populations, and should be studied comprehensively. We studied the ring deposition pattern of Testudo graeca in southeastern Iberian Peninsula, using recaptures of 156 individuals between 2004 and 2010. Leer más.