Desert Tortoises in Zion National Park Represent a Natural Extension of Their Range

Chava L. Weitzman; Bridgette E. Hagerty; Franziska C. Sandmeier; C. Richard Tracy

doi:10.2744/CCB-1457.1

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Chava L. Weitzman,^1,*,** Bridgette E. Hagerty,^2,** Franziska C. Sandmeier,³ C. Richard Tracy⁴

¹Department of Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, Nevada 89557 USA
²Department of Biological Sciences, York College of Pennsylvania, York, Pennsylvania 17403 USA [bhagerty@ycp.edu]
³Department of Biology, Colorado State University–Pueblo, Pueblo, Colorado 81001 USA [franziska.sandmeier@csupueblo.edu]
⁴Department of Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, Nevada 89557 USA [dtracy@unr.edu]

^*Present address of corresponding author: Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061 USA [clweitzman@vt.edu]
^**†These authors contributed equally to this article

Abstract

The northeastern extreme of the Mojave desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) distribution near Zion National Park in Utah is contested as a natural range limit because of its suboptimal habitat and known anthropogenic movements of tortoises. In this study, we added microsatellite data from nine tortoises from the Zion area to a previously published population genetic analysis to determine the tortoises' likely origins. Our results suggest that both anthropogenic tortoise movements and descendants of local tortoises make up the individuals found near Zion.

Citation Download Citation

Chava L. Weitzman, Bridgette E. Hagerty, Franziska C. Sandmeier, and C. Richard Tracy "Desert Tortoises in Zion National Park Represent a Natural Extension of Their Range," Chelonian Conservation and Biology 20(1), 91-96, (7 June 2021). https://doi.org/10.2744/CCB-1457.1

Received: 2 June 2020; Accepted: 26 October 2020; Published: 7 June 2021

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