Volume 3, Number 3- December 1999

CONTENTS

Articles

Home range and microhabitat use in the angonoka (Geochelone yniphora) in Madagascar. Lora L. Smith, Bourou Robert, Mahatoly Joby, and Sibo Clément 393

Environmental correlates of hatchling emergence in the red-eared turtle, Trachemys scripta elegans, in Illinois. John K. Tucker 401

Thermal profiles of sea turtle hatcheries and nesting areas at Praia do Forte, Brazil. Eugênia Naro-Maciel, N. Mrosovsky, and Maria Ângela Marcovaldi 407

Ecology and status of a wood turtle (Clemmys insculpta) population in West Virginia. Allan J. Niederberger and Michael E. Seidel 414

Nesting ecology of Podocnemis sextuberculata (Testudines, Pelomedusidae) in the Japurá River, Amazonas, Brazil. Juarez C.B. Pezzuti and Richard C. Vogt 419

Habitat selection and movements of diamondback terrapins, Malaclemys terrapin, in a Maryland estuary. Willem M. Roosenburg, Katherin L. Haley, and Scott McGuire 425

Home ranges of spotted turtles (Clemmys guttata) in southwestern Ohio. Timothy L. Lewis and Craig A. Faulhaber 430

Leopard tortoises (Geochelone pardalis) in Valley Bushveld, Eastern Cape, South Africa: specialist or generalist herbivores? Mervyn C. Mason, Graham I.H. Kerley, Craig A. Weatherby, and William R. Branch 435

Occurrence and trade of the golden turtle, Cuora trifasciata, in Laos. Robert J. Timmins and Khamkhoun Khounboline 441

Physical and microhabitat characteristics of burrows used by juvenile desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii). Dawn S. Wilson, C. Richard Tracy, Kenneth A. Nagy, and David J. Morafka 448

Conservation genetics of the giant Amazon River turtle (Podocnemis expansa; Pelomedusidae) – inferences from two classes of molecular markers. Jack W. Sites, Jr., Nancy N. FitzSimmons, Nelson Jorge da Silva, Jr., and Vitor H. Cantarelli 454

Notes and Field Reports

Growth of slider turtles (Trachemys scripta) from temperate and tropical populations. John K. Tucker, Don Moll, and Edward O. Moll 464

Husbandry, behavior, and captive breeding of the Namaqualand speckled padloper (Homopus signatus signatus). Victor J.T. Loehr 468

Diet of Elseya purvisi and Elseya georgesi (Testudines: Chelidae), a sibling species pair of freshwater turtles from eastern Australia. Mathew Allanson and Arthur Georges 473

Short-term effectiveness of Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tags used in the study of Mediterranean marine turtles. Brendan J. Godley, Annette C. Broderick, and Sinead Moraghan 477

On the turtles of Hainan Island, southern China. Ron W.F. de Bruin and Harald G. Artner 479

Observations on predation of marine turtle nests at Akyatan, Turkey, eastern Mediterranean. Monica Aureggi, Guido Gerosa, and Sedat V. Yerli 487

Occurrence of the furrowed wood turtle (Rhinoclemmys areolata) on Turneffe Atoll, Belize. Steven G. Platt, William B. Karesh, John B. Thorbjarnarson, and Thomas R. Rainwater 490

Size differences in hind limbs and carapaces of hatchling green turtles (Chelonia mydas) from Hawaii and Florida, USA. Jeanette Wyneken, George H. Balazs, S.K.K. Murakawa, and Yvette Anderson 491

Feeding behavior and the saddleback shell of Dipsochelys arnoldi. Justin Gerlach 496

Long-term trends in size of stranded juvenile loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta). C. Robert Shoop, Carol A. Ruckdeschel, and Robert D. Kenney 501

Effects of short-term water temperature variation on food consumption in painted turtles (Chrysemys picta marginata). Kristie D. Gianopulos and John W. Rowe 504

Habitat structures associated with juvenile gopher tortoise burrows on pine plantations in Alabama. Matthew J. Aresco 464

First record of the Nile soft-shelled turtle, Trionyx triunguis, from Kos Island, Greece, with comments on its occurrence in the eastern Mediterranean. Ertan Taskavak, Michael J. Reimann, and Wouter N. Polder 510

Cutaneous surface area in freshwater turtles. Paul A. Stone and John B. Iverson 512

Stomach contents of an olive ridley turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea) from the Gulf of Papua, Papua New Guinea. C. Sylvia Spring and Janet Gwyther 516

First record of introduced eastern Mediterranean tortoises, Testudo hermanni boettgeri, in southern France. Ghislaine Guyot and Peter C.H. Pritchard 518 Commentaries and Reviews

Estimating the time between hatching and emergence from the nest of sea turtles: effects of ignoring water potential. Anthony C. Steyermark 521 Linnaeus Fund Research Reports

Reproductive cycles of male and female giant tortoises (Geochelone nigra) on the Galápagos Islands by plasma steroid analysis and ultrasound scanning. Beatrix G. Schramm, Valentine A. Lance, and Miguel Casares 523

A test of the comparative influences of constant and fluctuating incubation temperatures on phenotypes of hatchling turtles. J. Sean Doody 529

Mercury concentration in the scutes of black sea turtles, Chelonia mydas agassizii, in the Gulf of California. Stephanie M. Presti, Antonio Resendiz S. Hidalgo, Albert E. Sollod, and Jeffrey A. Seminoff 531