Olive ridley turtles prefer mates of similar size: ZFI study

Kolkata: A recent joint study by the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) and the University of Michigan, USA has revealed that olive ridley turtles prefer mates of similar size. The research was conducted at the Rushikulya rookery in Odisha, through a project granted by ZSI. The findings contribute valuable insights into the mating behaviour of olive ridley turtles, with implications for their conservation and reproductive ecology highlighting the importance of protection and curving high sea mortality of olive ridley turtles in Bay of Bengal.

“The two-year investigation involved capturing, tagging, and measuring 134 mating pairs of olive ridleys offshore of Rushikulya rookery, one of the largest mass congregation sites in the world for the species. The research found a significant positive correlation between the sizes of male and female turtles, suggesting size-assortative mating behaviour. Larger females, which can produce more eggs, and larger males, who may have physical advantages during mating, appear to drive this preference,” said Dhriti Banerjee, ZSI director. The study published in ‘Ecosphere’ also recorded frequent signs of mating competition, such as bite marks on females and the presence of multiple males attempting to mate with a single female. ZSI scientists Basudev Tripathy and Anil Mohapatra was primarily involved in the research project along with Anshuman Swain from University of Michigan, USA and was assisted by Ashis Kumar Das and Sandeep Kumar Mohapatra from ZSI centre in Gopalpur-on-Sea.