Michigan study finds rare juvenile turtles Michigan study finds rare juvenile turtles In 1966, when scientist-student Whit Gibbons captured his first Blanding s turtle while working on his Ph.D. at Michigan State University s Kellogg Biological Station, the turtle was almost as old as he was. Finding juveniles of this species is rare but Gibbons has kept at it. It is just two and one-half inches long and yet is four years old. Blanding's turtles, a species of special concern in most states, are long-lived animals, some of them living to more than 75 years of age.
Age is determined by examining the rings of the shell of the turtle, called annuli.
Not so, according to Gibbons, who says the difficulty comes from identifying where juvenile Blanding turtles live. That s what makes finding this individual so exciting, he says. Future field expeditions may be expected to locate even more juveniles now that an area has been identified as being hospitable to the young. Gibbons has been studying the life history traits and ecology of this species under the undisturbed habitat conditions provided by the Kellogg Biological Station during most years since his graduate work at Michigan State. He spent a sabbatical year at the University of Michigan in 1975-76 and is currently an adjunct professor of zoology at Michigan State University.