Every year, Chelonia mydas, or the endangered green turtle, usually lays eggs in Wangan (望安), Penghu County and on Orchid Island (蘭嶼), Taitung County, but it was not confirmed until recently by a Taiwanese professor that the different groups of turtles belong to the same ancient family.
Genetic analysis of the two groups of turtles between 1997 and 2006 by Cheng I-jiunn (程一駿), a marine biology professor at National Taiwan Ocean University, showed that the genetic features of both groups bore certain similarities with a certain ancient turtle family in the Indo-Pacific region.
The result meant that both groups could have evolved from the same family.
However, the study also showed differences between the genetic combinations of the turtles in Wangan and those on Orchid Island, which could mean that the two groups did not interact with each other.
“Normally, people think green turtles look similar and behave similarly ... There should not be any difference between the green turtles in Taiwan, but research in the reproductive ecology in recent years found many differences between the green turtles in Wangan and Orchid Island,” Cheng was quoted as saying in a press release by the university.
Cheng said the female turtles that lay eggs on the island are bigger than those in Wangan, but the mother turtles in Wangan go ashore more frequently and dig more and deeper holes to lay eggs.
The eggs laid in Wangan are bigger and heavier than those on Orchid Island, but the mortality rate of baby turtles in Wangan during hatching is higher than that of baby turtles on the island, he said.
Cheng said the genetic differences between the two groups could have resulted from differences in their habitats, adding that the geographical distance between Wangan, which is located on a continental shelf, and Orchid Island, which is in the Pacific Ocean, might have also prevented any interaction between them.
Cheng said the research also showed that the protection of the two groups of turtles was equally important.
He urged the government to turn the Orchid Island beach where the turtles lay eggs into a conservation area.
Cheng’s research will soon be published in the Journal of Zoology, the university said.
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