Amazing! I'm so jealous! Please keep the photos comin!!!
ALDABRAMAN said:* Can you share what the lowest temperature (f) you have seen at night?
* Can you say if the sex of an aldabra is determined by genetics or incubation temperature?
* Do you notice any difference in the fertility levels between the more populated herds? / or within the herds that have a more plentiful food source?
AustinASU said:bucket list must, i would love to take part doing research there....just amazing! Are there a way to do this for college thesis?
Robyn@TRR said:What about the human side of things? What kind of facilities/housing do you have there? Buildings? A hammock strung between giant tortoises?
Q said:I would like to know if you have come across any babies or juveniles in the wild? If so can you post any pictures that you have?
srkarpen said:What is their social structure like? Obviously there are gigantor herds and tortoises interact with each other but is there any sort of social hierarchy? Do they exhibit any strange social behaviors as far as individual interactions between two tortoises, say for example, high fiving when they find some liana that's low enough to eat? obviously they don't high five (maybe you can teach them) but I think you get what I mean.
AldabraNerd said:natal/juvenile mortality is very high, and most die within a few months of hatching.
Yellow Turtle said:Please answer, you mention that juvenile lives in hidden micro habitat. Have you seen the habitat that they live? What is it? Any research on its humidity, temperature and what they feed there?
Thank you one more time for giving valuable information.
AldabraNerd said:Yellow Turtle said:Please answer, you mention that juvenile lives in hidden micro habitat. Have you seen the habitat that they live? What is it? Any research on its humidity, temperature and what they feed there?
Thank you one more time for giving valuable information.
Sorry, my mistake, I should have elaborated: "There are two POTENTIAL explanations...". As I said, for now we know next to nothing about hatchlings/juveniles in the field.
But no, Aldabraman, we don't contribute to the predation/mortality!
(we'd be shipped off the atoll before we could count the toes on a tortoise's hind leg!). Natural predators probably include herons, land crabs, rails (not those with trains! -but a flightless bird), and crows. Introduced cats and rats may take some, too, but are not having an apparent impact on the system as far as we know. And the general harshness of the ecosystem may play a role, too.
AldabraNerd said:But no, Aldabraman, we don't contribute to the predation/mortality!
(we'd be shipped off the atoll before we could count the toes on a tortoise's hind leg!)
StudentoftheReptile said:I "think" he meant to say attribute, not contribute.