Other Turtle Discussion :: Painted turtles and climate change

[ljapa]

Interesting article on research of painted turtles on a Mississippi River island in Illinois. They indicate that females can time their egg-laying to control for temperature based sex ratio. They also indicate concerns about long term survival as global temperatures warm.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn2 ... nline-news

Given that all the research is focused on this one island, I'd suspect it's not a matter of painted turtles going extinct like the article implies, but simply of the range shifting.

[steve]

Very interesting read. I agree with your assessment. They have a good native range, but it's bound to cause some imbalances in some areas.