How do turtles mate and how often do they mate?

Written by Dr. Chan Eng Heng

Dr. Chan is a co-founder of TCS. She is a retired Professor who had spent more than 30 years studying marine turtles in the country.

26 Oct 2009

Turtles mate with the male mounted on top of the female. The male turtle wraps his tail around the female’s in order to inseminate her. The penis is not exposed and is kept internal at other times. The mating position in marine turtles can last up to 8 hours!! This is probably the reason why some indigenous people prize the turtle penis as an aphrodisiac. In marine turtles, males are polygamous and will mate with multiple partners during the reproductive season. The female similarly can be inseminated by several males, confirmed by multiple paternity of hatchlings from within a single clutch of eggs.

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