Turtle article in current issue of “Discover” magazine

[Todd Stockwell]

A co-worker told me about a turtle article in the current issue of “Discover” magazine: “Can Turtles Live Forever? A quiet backwoods study opens a huge window on aging By Barry Yeoman When Justin Congdon was a teenager, he spent his days in the woods of northeastern Pennsylvania, shooting pheasants and trapping muskrats so he could sell their pelts for $4 apiece. He would have laughed had anyone told him he might spend the rest of his life in a forest preserve trapping turtles, X-raying their bellies, and painstakingly gluing their shells back together when they had the bad luck to be hit by cars. Full text of this article can be found in the current issue of Discover Magazine. —————————————————— RELATED WEB SITES: A good starting spot for turtle information can be found at http://emys.geo.orst.edu ——————————————————- _Ǖ__ Copyright 2002 The Walt Disney Company. Back to Homepage.” I bought a copy last night and found it very interesting. Although DBTs are not included, I know many on this list would appreciate the information and the study certainly does confirm that removal of older adult females from turtle populations has the most negative impact. The article describes a long-term study of turtles in Michigan (Midland Paints, Blandings, Snappers) by 61 year old Justin Congdon that continues the work of Congdon’s professor/mentor who started the study at the same location as early as the 1950s. The “news” is that turtles don’t die due to age like mammals and that older female turtles produce larger clutches. The oldest turtles still show some annual growth. The older the female, the more eggs. Turtles (and a few other critters like sharks mentioned in the article) die mostly do to predation, injury and infectious diseases, but their genetics don’t “turn off” reproduction with age and don’t “turn on” all of the problems and deterioration associated with aging in mammals. So, researchers of human aging are becoming very interested in the data from this long-term turtle study as they try to find out why turtles aren’t programmed to “age” and die like humans. The descriptions of the field study methods (although relatively short) and the couple of photos are worth the price. Check it out! Todd __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! – Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com

[Glaeser Walt-P55431]

Thanks, Todd! Very interesting! Walt G. —–Original Message—– From: Todd Stockwell [mailto:oxdrover2002@…] Sent: Wednesday, May 29, 2002 1:35 PM To: diamondbackterrapins@yahoogroups.com Subject: [diamondbackterrapins] Turtle article in current issue of “Discover” magazine A co-worker told me about a turtle article in the current issue of “Discover” magazine: “Can Turtles Live Forever? A quiet backwoods study opens a huge window on aging By Barry Yeoman When Justin Congdon was a teenager, he spent his days in the woods of northeastern Pennsylvania, shooting pheasants and trapping muskrats so he could sell their pelts for $4 apiece. He would have laughed had anyone told him he might spend the rest of his life in a forest preserve trapping turtles, X-raying their bellies, and painstakingly gluing their shells back together when they had the bad luck to be hit by cars. Full text of this article can be found in the current issue of Discover Magazine. —————————————————— RELATED WEB SITES: A good starting spot for turtle information can be found at http://emys.geo.orst.edu ——————————————————- _ Copyright 2002 The Walt Disney Company. Back to Homepage.” I bought a copy last night and found it very interesting. Although DBTs are not included, I know many on this list would appreciate the information and the study certainly does confirm that removal of older adult females from turtle populations has the most negative impact. The article describes a long-term study of turtles in Michigan (Midland Paints, Blandings, Snappers) by 61 year old Justin Congdon that continues the work of Congdon’s professor/mentor who started the study at the same location as early as the 1950s. The “news” is that turtles don’t die due to age like mammals and that older female turtles produce larger clutches. The oldest turtles still show some annual growth. The older the female, the more eggs. Turtles (and a few other critters like sharks mentioned in the article) die mostly do to predation, injury and infectious diseases, but their genetics don’t “turn off” reproduction with age and don’t “turn on” all of the problems and deterioration associated with aging in mammals. So, researchers of human aging are becoming very interested in the data from this long-term turtle study as they try to find out why turtles aren’t programmed to “age” and die like humans. The descriptions of the field study methods (although relatively short) and the couple of photos are worth the price. Check it out! Todd __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! – Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: diamondbackterrapins-unsubscribe@egroups.com Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

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