ReviewBiology letters2019
Physiological determinants of the internesting interval in sea turtles: a novel 'water-limitation' hypothesis.
Review in Biology letters, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- Warming and Change in Ocean Productivity Alter Phenology of an Expanding Loggerhead Population in Cabo Verde.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
- Blood analytes relevant to nutritional status and energy metabolism in three sea turtle species across nesting season.Journal of comparative physiology. B, Biochemical, systemic, and environmental physiology · 2026Article
- Comparative plasma biochemistry analyte data in nesting leatherback (Conservation physiology · 2024Article
- Health assessment of nesting loggerhead sea turtles (Conservation physiology · 2024Article
- Article
- Osmotic 'cost' of reproduction in breeding male toads.Biology letters · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The internesting interval separates successive clutches of sea turtle eggs, and its duration varies both among and within species. Here, we review the potential physiological limits to this interval, and develop the hypothesis that desalination capacity limits the internesting interval owing to the requirement for water deposition in eggs. Sea turtles deposit 1-4 kg of water per clutch in egg albumen; for most species, this represents about 2% of adult body mass. We calculate how quickly turtles can recover this water by estimating maximal salt excretion rates, metabolic water production and urinary losses. From this water balance perspective, the 'water-limitation' hypothesis is plausible for green turtles but not for leatherbacks. Some plasma biochemistry studies indicate dehydration in sea turtles during the nesting season, although this is not a universal finding and these data have rarely been collected during the internesting interval itself. There is mixed support for a trade-off between clutch size and the length of the interval. We conclude that the 'water-limitation' hypothesis is plausible for most sea turtle species, but requires direct experimentation.
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Registered trials
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