Arid Mediterranean regions that shelter unique biodiversity are threatened by increasing anthropogenic pressures, such as urbanization, overgrazing and climate change. In Morocco, one of the main bush species in arid areas, the jujube (Ziziphus lotus), suffers from officially promoted programmes of removal. The Moorish tortoise (Testudo graeca soussensis) is threatened by such habitat loss. Like most animals, the Moorish tortoise must navigate between microhabitats to find essential feeding resources and thermal refuges. This study combined radio-tracking of free-ranging individuals, microhabitat temperature monitoring and transects in a range of habitats. Tortoises were found to depend on the occurrence of large and relatively abundant bushes to escape lethal overheating. Thus, (1) current official encouragements for the destruction of the jujube bushes should be reappraised; (2) habitat restoration relying on replanting jujube bush should be encouraged; and (3) large-scale monitoring of critical bush densities should be used to better organize conservation plans (protection and/or restoration of areas) for the Moorish tortoise.

No abstract

In most animal species, it is expected that females should exhibit a greater abdominal volume than males to hold the progeny, when compared with females, males should exhibit more developed attributes that enhance mobility. We tested this hypothesis in the Greek tortoise. In chelonians, a reduction of the openings in the shell improves protection against predation but also constrains the abdominal volume and limits the space available to move the limbs. As expected, our data show that the shell provides a larger abdominal volume relative to tortoise size in females than in males. In males, deep notches in the shell and a reduction of several plastron plates offer more freedom to the limbs and to the tail; these characteristics presumably enhance mating success. Further studies are necessary to assess the applicability of these results in other chelonians, notably freshwater and marine turtles

No abstract

No abstract