Re: scute abnormalities
It is widely believed that subdivided scutes and other scute pattern abnormalities are attributable to incubation conditions (specifically non-variable or constant incubation temperatures), although I am not aware of any specific studies and/or publications on the topic. Of possible interest, while rare I have observed extra scutes on occasion in wild Blanding’s Turtles here in Minnesota. Frequency is extremely low (somewhere in the neighborhood of 3 or 4 per 1000 animals) but this would seem to indicate that other factors may play a role in these types of shell abnormalities as well. Just some thoughts which may prove helpful – John John P. Levell NorthStar Herpetological Associates – Turtle and Tortoise Book Shop emys@…