Would you like to help with a study?

[Donald Esker]

Hello, Donald, I hope it's ok to skip the formalities. Being addressed as "Ms......" makes me feel like an old matron. But I feel young at heartWe are all friends on this forum. Is there any standardized matrix for taking measurements? Guidelines? What type of measuring devices to be used! Calipers? Soft fabrick tape? Is there a diagram sheet to follow? We'll get the measurements done before the end of this week. It'll be lot of fun.

Pearly;

I'm glad to hear that you're excited to get going! Measurement-wise, if you have a cloth tape and calipers you should be ready to go. If you don't have calipers, you can use a metric ruler as a last resort. I'll include the measurement diagram below, but I can't post the Word file worksheet, so you'll have to contact me for that. Email me at [email protected], and I'll send it to you. Thanks so much for your help!

Cheers,

Don Esker

 

[KaijuEmily]

I would love to send in the measurements of my baby red foot, Artemis. She is around 4 to 5 inches long. Can i get that worksheet too?

 

[DutchieAmanda]

Hi Donald,

Today I measured my redfoot. I didn't get all measurements, because his shell is more rounded I had some trouble with the width's of the front scutes. But still, here we go (in cm and grams):
L1N: 4
W1N: 3.8
L2N: 3
W2N: 5
L3N: 3
W3N: 5
L4N: 3.6
W4N: 4.3
W: 18.2
L: 20
PL: 14
AL: 0.7
LGH: 4.5
WH: 7
LG: 2

Weight: 712
Age: around 2 years and 8 months
Sex: still unknown

Good luck with your study!

 

[JoesMum]

I'll be in touch. My Testudo Graeca Graeca is over 50 years old. Can't say exactly. He was wild caught and came to us in 1970

 

[Donald Esker]

Hi Donald,

Today I measured my redfoot. I didn't get all measurements, because his shell is more rounded I had some trouble with the width's of the front scutes. But still, here we go (in cm and grams):
L1N: 4
W1N: 3.8
L2N: 3
W2N: 5
L3N: 3
W3N: 5
L4N: 3.6
W4N: 4.3
W: 18.2
L: 20
PL: 14
AL: 0.7
LGH: 4.5
WH: 7
LG: 2

Weight: 712
Age: around 2 years and 8 months
Sex: still unknown

Good luck with your study!

Amanda;

Thanks so much for this wonderful data! Data on young animals like your redfoot is very important in determining the shape of his species' growth curve!

-- Don

 

[Donald Esker]

I'll be in touch. My Testudo Graeca Graeca is over 50 years old. Can't say exactly. He was wild caught and came to us in 1970

Hello Mum!

I'd love to see the data for your tortoise! Not only is having a more mature individual's measurements important in nailing a curve down, it's of special interest to me. In some phylogenies [T. graeca] is the closest cousin to [T. marginata], and I'm very sweet on my little marginated friend. Email me at [email protected] when you want the worksheet!

Cheers,

Don

 

[JoesMum]

Hello Mum!

I'd love to see the data for your tortoise! Not only is having a more mature individual's measurements important in nailing a curve down, it's of special interest to me. In some phylogenies [T. graeca] is the closest cousin to [T. marginata], and I'm very sweet on my little marginated friend. Email me at [email protected] when you want the worksheet!

Cheers,

Don

I had already done it, but got no reply yet. I'll do it again

 

[Donald Esker]

Greetings All!

I've been hard at work measuring tortoises and entering data. I've spent about 12 hours at my local zoo so far, and it looks like it'll be another 3 or 4 before I finish. Then I'll only have another dozen or so zoos to tackle! The good news is that this data -- and the data you wonderful people (you know who you are!) gave me -- is starting to come together. 16 tortoises do not a statistically valid sample make, but feast your eyes on my first regression:

That's a log-log graph of curved carapace width versus weight. The equation I found is in that little box there, along with the R^2 value. For those not familiar, an R^2 value is sort of a measure of how well the curve the equation describes matches the actual data. 1 is perfect; .9912 is VERY good! If you happen to have a cloth measuring tape, feel free to use this equation to predict how much your tortoise ways. If the data I've got is representative of tortoises in general, it'll be pretty accurate until you get into torts in the 10 kg - range. Don't worry -- I'll keep improving it! Thanks again for your support!

 

[Donald Esker]

Today was my first day measuring the GIANTS -- it was excellent! Cameron Park Zoo here in central Texas has two Chelonoidis nigra and one Aldabrachelys gigantea. They're all male. The older two (the larger C. nigra and the A. gigantea) are possibly somewhere in their 90s, but have been shifting from zoo to zoo since long before good record keeping. The smaller C. nigra was captive-born in 1987 at another zoo. They are all very well cared for and very personable animals. I'll try to attach some videos here!

P.S. If you have any interest in helping with this project, we'd love to have your data! Contact me at [email protected] for the worksheet!

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1696749180596893

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1696752103929934

 

[JoesMum]

It's fair to say that Joe didn't enjoy being subjected to this study. Maybe I was too slow at taking the measurements Worksheet now emailed In