By:- Savannah Peat
Researchers at the University of Georgia (UGA) have developed a novel, cost-effective method to study male marine turtles—a traditionally elusive population—using DNA extracted from a single egg. The technique allows scientists to determine the genetic profile of breeding males without needing to interact with nesting females or hatchlings, paving the way for large-scale population monitoring and species preservation.
Male turtles rarely return to land after hatching, making them difficult to track. Previous methods relied on satellite tracking or sampling multiple hatchlings and mothers, which were invasive, time-consuming, and logistically challenging. The new approach isolates a thin membrane inside an egg to extract DNA from sperm, enabling researchers to determine paternity profiles for an entire nest.
Brian Shamblin, lead author of the study and senior research scientist at UGA’s Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, said,
“It sort of blows my mind that this technique works as well as it does and as consistently as it does. We can get information about the whole set of eggs from that nest without ever having to interact with the nesting female or any of the hatchlings.”
The researchers tested the method on loggerhead and green turtles in the Southeast, successfully identifying how many males fathered each nest. Since multiple males can father one nest, this technique allows scientists to analyze male turtle genetics across broad populations, helping track shifts in genetic diversity and mating patterns.
Understanding male turtle populations is critical, as skewed sex ratios due to warmer sands producing more female hatchlings can limit breeding potential. By building a reliable database of male turtle genetics, researchers can better monitor population health and implement conservation strategies to preserve these iconic species.
“Sea turtles are iconic and have survived millions of years of environmental change,” Shamblin said. “It’s up to us to figure out how we can help them continue to do that. Now that we have the male side of the equation, we can work to perfect our understanding of these populations.”
The study, published in Ecology and Evolution, was conducted in collaboration with Cheryl Sanchez and Simona Ceriani of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, and Sean Perry, assistant professor at Midwestern University.
