Can Desert Tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) See Color?

Overview

Objectives/Goals My goal was to see if desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) can see color. Methods/Materials A box was built and X#s marked for the placement of roses and the tortoise. Carnation pairs were randomly chosen and assigned to the left or right X position. A sunny day was chosen since it warmed up the desert tortoise#s metabolism. Also, I did not feed the tortoise for 48 hrs so she was motivated to go after the carnations. There were 10 conditions with 6 trials each. I recorded which carnation the tortoise went to and attempted to eat first. Results My hypothesis was not supported because maybe the desert tortoise can actually see color. Of the 10 conditions, in only 3 conditions was each of the pair chosen equally. Overall, the tortoise chose the white carnation 67% of the time versus any of the color carnations 33% of the time. There was no preference for the color red, either. However, there was a left versus right preference. The carnation on the left was chosen 62% of the time versus 38% for the carnation on the right. Conclusions/Discussion The most obvious reason my hypothesis was not supported may have been because the desert tortoise can actually see color. The small sample size (n=1) probably contributed to the findings. However, because the desert tortoise is endangered, it would have been difficult to use a larger number. Also, desert tortoises don#t eat carnations, but really like roses. Unfortunately, roses have a scent and I wasn#t testing to see if tortoises could smell. Finally, It#sa was not used to being in the box I built. She was very distracted and didn#t focus on the experiment as much as would have helped to really test the hypothesis. Knowing if a desert tortoise can see color can help when a tortoise is sick and needs to eat. If there really is a preference for the color red, or just color in general, then they can be given red roses or red apples or a colorful food, to get them to start eating and get healthier.

Competition history

• CSEF 2008 Zoology · Entry J2012

Resources

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