Keywords :
First Record; Male Combat; Elongated Tortoise; Indotestudo elongata
บทคัดย่อ :
The Elongated Tortoise Indotestudo elongata (Blyth, 1853) is a medium-sized tortoise reaching a straight carapace length of up to 36 cm and a body weight of up to 4 kg, with males growing larger than females (Ihlow et al., 2016 and references therein). The species geographic range stretches across much of Southeast Asia including Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and portions of Northwest India and Southern China (Ihlow et al., 2016). The ecology and behaviour of I. elongata is poorly understood, and only a few studies
focusing on in situ observations exist (Ihlow et al., 2016 and references therein). Herein we report on our field observation of combat between two male I. elongata made at the Sakaerat Biosphere Reserve, located in Nakhon Ratchasima Province, Thailand (14.4933(degrees)N, 101.9219(degrees)E, WGS1984, 470 m asl). The reserve measures approximately 82 km2 and is covered by a mosaic of dry evergreen forest, dry dipterocarp forest, and fragmented bamboo forest. Within the Sakaerat Biosphere Reserve, I. elongata appears to occur in high densities, as the home ranges of the radio-tracked individuals overlap up to 40% with conspecifics. Thus, encounters between individuals may occur on a daily basis, particularly during the rainy season between May and October, which is the main activity and breeding period of the species (Ihlow et al., 2016 and references therein).
เอกสารอ้างอิง :
Ward, M., Ihlow, F., Nadolski, B., Crane, M. S., Knierim, T., Artchawakom, T., & Strine, C. T. (2018). First record of male combat in the Elongated Tortoise Indotestudo elongata (Blyth, 1853) from north-eastern Thailand. Herpetology Notes, 11, 585-587.
