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Turning turtle: scaling relationships and self-righting ability in Chelydra serpentina

Ruhr, Ilan M.; Rose, Kayleigh A.R.; Sellers, William I.; Crossley II, Dane A.; Codd, Jonathan R.

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Authors

Kayleigh A.R. Rose

William I. Sellers

Dane A. Crossley II

Jonathan R. Codd



Abstract

Testudines are susceptible to inversion and self-righting using their necks, limbs or both, to generate enough mechanical force to flip over. We investigated how shell morphology, neck length and self-righting biomechanics scale with body mass during ontogeny in Chelydra serpentina, which uses neck-powered self-righting. We found that younger turtles flipped over twice as fast as older individuals. A simple geometric model predicted the relationships of shell shape and self-righting time with body mass. Conversely, neck force, power output and kinetic energy increase with body mass at rates greater than predicted. These findings were correlated with relatively longer necks in younger turtles than would be predicted by geometric similarity. Therefore, younger turtles self-right with lower biomechanical costs than predicted by simple scaling theory. Considering younger turtles are more prone to inverting and their shells offer less protection, faster and less costly self-righting would be advantageous in overcoming the detriments of inversion.

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jan 28, 2021
Publication Date Mar 10, 2021
Deposit Date Jun 11, 2025
Publicly Available Date Jun 12, 2025
Journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Print ISSN 0962-8452
Electronic ISSN 1471-2954
Publisher The Royal Society
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 288
DOI https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2021.0213

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