ASPECTOS REPRODUTIVO E DE CONSERVAÇÃO DA Podocnemis expansa (Testudines, Podocnemidedae) EM ÁREAS MONITORADAS

Abstract

For the present study 132 nests of Podocnemis expansa were marked during six spawning periods (2012 to 2017) in Tabuleiro do Embaubal, Rio Xingu, State of Pará. After hatching and total absorption of the calf, the newly hatched were removed from the nests and kept in identified plastic trays. Carapace length and carapace width, plastron length and width were measured using a 0.10 mm precision caliper. For weighing the specimens, a scale with 0.01g precision was used. The results obtained for the carapace parameter show that it was only in 2014 that there was a difference in relation to the other years, with 2016 and 2017 being the years with the least measures and 2012 and 2015 having the greatest measures. There was no difference between the years evaluated for carapace width. The parameters for carapace length, 2012 and 2014 had different measures, however 2013 and 2015 had greater measures. There was no difference only between the years 2013 and 2014 for the width of the plastron, both being the years that had the highest values. The only year that showed a difference in the weight of the newly hatched in relation to the other years was 2016, but it was the one with the lowest measures. The biometrics of newly hatched Testudines is a simple but important tool in conservation and management programs for vulnerable species, since the variation in cub sizes may be related to the difference in the biometry of adults in such populations.