18th Annual Student Research Conference
Science
Is Carapace Length a Predictive Variable for Number of Annuli in the Illinois Mud Turtle, Kinesternon flavescens spooneri?
John M. Bennett
Dr. Don Kangas and Dr. Michael I. Kelrick, Faculty Mentors
As turtles age and develop, they produce rings on each scute, or plate, of their shells. These rings, called annuli, are often used to estimate the age of the turtle. This procedure can be problematic as the numerous variables which affect annuli production remain somewhat unclear. However, if annuli production is highly correlated with another variable, some inferences concerning the age of the turtle may be made. The turtle of interest in this study is the yellow mud turtle, Kinosternon flavescens, of which the Illinois mud turtle, K. flavescens spooneri, is a subspecies. After analysis revealed that, for this population, annuli production was correlated with carapace length, a Model II Linear Regression model was constructed. This model was found to be a good representation of the relationship between number of annuli and carapace length. Additionally, the affects of gender on the correlation were highly significant.
Keywords: K. flavescens, correlation, linear regression
Topic(s):Biology
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 55-3
Location: VH 1432
Time: 4:15