Aproximación a aspectos poblacionales y de uso de hábitat de la tortuga terecay podocnemis unifilis en la reserva proaves el jaguar, mapiripán, meta

Abstract

A study was carried out in the ProAves El Jaguar Reserve (municipality of Mapiripán, Meta, Colombia) to understand some aspects of the population ecology of the terecay turtle Podocnemis unifilis in three aquatic habitats (river, lagoon and channel) during the dry season of 2024. Simple funnel traps and visual counting transects by direct sighting were used. Each captured individual was measured, marked and released in the same habitat; Likewise, physicochemical variables were taken from each habitat for characterization. In total, 10 individuals of P. unifilis were captured, 80% of the captures were in the river and 20% in the lagoon, without obtaining samples in the channel, observing a segregation of subadult and adult individuals in the river, and juveniles in the lagoon. The physicochemical and structural variables indicated spatial heterogeneity between the habitats, with a greater contrast between the river and the pipe, with the lagoon being an environment with intermediate conditions. Finally, the morphometric measurements of the plastron and the cloacal region are those that present the most variation in the sexual determination of adult individuals.