where do loggerhead sea turtles lay their eggs
Loggerhead sea turtle All sea turtles have similar basic nesting behaviors. Females return to lay eggs at intervals of 12â€“17 days during the nesting season, on or near the beach where they hatched.[60][61] They exit the water, climb the beach, and scrape away the surface sand to form a body pit. With their hind limbs, they excavate an egg chamber in which the eggs are deposited. The females then cover the egg chamber and body pit with sand, and finally return to the sea.[66] This process takes one to two hours, and occurs in open sand areas or on top of sand dunes, preferably near dune grasses that the females can use to camouflage the nest.[61] The nesting area must be selected carefully because it affects characteristics such as fitness, emergence ratio, and vulnerability to nest predators.[49] Loggerheads have an average clutch size of 112.4 eggs.[67]
Red-eared slider Red-eared slider young look practically identical regardless of their sex, making it difficult to determine their sex. However, there is another method to determine their sex, by inspecting the markings under their carapace. These markings will fade as the turtles age. It is much easier to distinguish the sex of adults, as the shells of mature males are smaller than those of females.[12] Male red-eared sliders reach sexual maturity when their carapaces' diameters measure 10 cm (3.9 in) and females reach maturity when their carapaces measure 15 cm. Both male and females reach sexual maturity at five to six years. The male is normally smaller than the female, although this parameter is sometimes difficult to apply as individuals being compared could be of different ages.