Acta Zoologica Cracoviensia, 31() 1988
Le mouvement des membres au cours du comportement de nidification chez la Tortue Luth (Dermochelys coriacea).Étude préliminaire à la connaissance du répertoire moteur des tortues marines
Abstract:
The locomotor behaviour of Dermochelys coriacea when the females land on beaches for nesting involves the same kind of limb movements as during swimming. The pattern of coordination shows a simultaneous action of the fore limbs, then of the hind limbs. The pattern is very different for digging the nest and sweeping the nesting area. For the digging of the nest each hind limb moves alternatively in a rather complex way using the proximo-distal addition of the degrees of freedom of the articulations of the appendage, the paddle acting as a type of helicoid spade, drilling, then removing the sand outside the hole. For the sweeping of the area, the hind limbs form a single transversal system, one being protracted when the other is retracted, helped by the rotation of the girdle around a vertical axis. Those peculiarities are associated to some morphological features of the Leatherback Turtle, for instance the lack of rigid link between the vertebral column and the ilia as well as with the pseudo shell. This work is based upon observations and analysis of cinemovies taken in French Guiana.
