Forensic Application of Stable Isotopes to Distinguish between Wild and Captive Turtles.

Autor:	Hopkins JB 3rd; Center for Wildlife Studies, 36A High St., Camden, ME 04843, USA., Frederick CA; Center for Wildlife Studies, 36A High St., Camden, ME 04843, USA., Yorks D; Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, Bangor, ME 04441, USA., Pollock E; Stable Isotope Laboratory, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701, USA., Chatfield MWH; School of Biology and Ecology, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469, USA.
Jazyk:	angličtina
Zdroj:	Biology [Biology (Basel)] 2022 Nov 29; Vol. 11 (12). Date of Electronic Publication: 2022 Nov 29.
DOI:	10.3390/biology11121728
Abstrakt:	Wildlife traffickers often claim that confiscated animals were captive-bred rather than wild-caught to launder wild animals and escape prosecution. We used stable isotopes ( δ 13 C and δ 15 N) derived from the claw tips of wild wood turtles from Maine and captive wood turtles throughout the eastern U.S. to develop a predictive model used to classify confiscated wood turtles as wild or captive. We found that the claw tips of wild and captive wood turtles ( Glyptemys insculpta ) were isotopically distinct. Captive turtles had significantly higher δ 13 C and δ 15 N values than wild turtles. Our model correctly classified all wild turtles as wild (100%) and nearly all captive turtles as captive (94%). All but two of the 71 turtles tested were successfully predicted as wild or captive (97.2% accuracy), yielding a misclassification rate of 2.8%. In addition to our model being useful to law enforcement in Maine, we aim to develop a multi-species model to assist conservation law enforcement efforts to curb illegal turtle trafficking from locations across the eastern United States and Canada.
Databáze:	MEDLINE
Externí odkaz:	Zobrazit plný text záznamu