Thermal biology of sea turtles

Abstract

Sea turtles are not confined to the tropics but may experience and tolerate widely different temperatures. This paper discusses the role of temperature in determining sexual differentiation of the embryos, incubation duration, emergence from the nest, activity, growth, survival, hibernation, internesting interval and distribution of sea turtles. Methods of measuring temperatures of adult turtles are considered in detail. Particular attention is devoted to the question of sex ratio and whether temperature determination of sexual differentiation has adaptive value. © 1980 by the American Society of Zoologists.