thebrainscoop: typhlonectes: Oldest well-documented Blanding’s Turtle recaptured at reserve at
thebrainscoop:typhlonectes:Oldest well-documented Blanding’s Turtle recaptured at reserve at age 83 via: University of MichiganA female Blanding’s turtle believed to be at least 83 years old was captured at a forest reserve this week. Researchers say it is the oldest well-documented Blanding’s turtle and one of the oldest-known freshwater turtles. The turtle was captured Monday at U-M’s Edwin S. George Reserve, about 25 miles northwest of Ann Arbor in southwestern Livingston County, near Pinckney. This individual, known as 3R11L, was first captured and marked in 1954, one year after the start of the reserve’s long-running turtle study. It has been recaptured more than 50 times since then.Blanding’s turtles reach sexual maturity at around age 20. Since 3R11L was sexually mature when first captured in 1954, she is believed to be at least 83 years old, according to turtle researcher Justin Congdon, who began studying the E.S. George turtles in the mid-1970s…(read more: Science Daily)photograph by Roy Naglethis is the stuff heroes are made of Here here! -- source link