Article: Abundance, identification, and prospective participation of bacteria on Gopher tortoise shell degrandation.

ABSTRACT

Shell degradation has been described, in one species of Gopherus, to be caused by an ingested environmental toxicant, and in another species of the same genus, to be caused by a topical fungus. Both studies document the presence of several bacterial species; however, these studies fail to specify if bacteria contribute to the degradation. Physical descriptions of the disease are analogous between species and similar to observations made here of a third Gopherus species. The purpose of the study was to test whether bacteria on tortoise shells can be associated with shell degradation. Between June and August 2002, bacteria were sampled from the centers and ...

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