Male sea turtles will mate with suitable female, but when it comes to female sea turtles and mate selection, the situation is rather more complex. Sea turtles are known to have multiple mates, yet there is no consensus as to why they do.
A loggerhead turtle swimming off the coast of Florida.
Photo courtesy Peter Leahy/
www.shutterstock.com Up until now, it has been thought that female sea turtles may mate with different partners to ensure fertilisation, which will result in multiple paternity within their nests, providing what has been described as “fertilisation insurance”. However, the findings of researchers from Florida Atlantic University suggest that this fertilisation insurance hypothesis might not be so accurate after all.