Search results for "Nonmodal scute"

Nonmodal scutes patterns in the Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta caretta): a possible epigenetic effect?

2016

Eleven specimens of the threatened Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta caretta (L., 1758)) were caught accidentally by fishermen in different parts of Sicily (Mediterranean Sea). Five of them showed an atypical number of carapacial and plastron scutes, making the immediate identification of the specimens as C. caretta difficult. Both genetic and epigenetic analysis were carried out on these specimens. Sequencing of a 649 bp sequence of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) gene allowed us to classify all the individuals as C. caretta. Epigenetic analysis, performed by evaluating the total level of DNA cytosine methylation, showed a reduced and significant (F = 72.65, p < 0.01) globa…