Etude comparée des parades sexuelles de quelques espèces de chéloniens: Pelomedusa s. subrufa (Lacépède), Sternotherus minor (Agassiz) et Kinixys belliana nogueyi (Bell)

Next to a short analysis of the sexual interactions and the relative importance of the stimulation kinds performed with each behaviour pattern, we analyse the observed behavioural sequences in courtship and mating behaviour of three chelonian's species: Pelomedusa s. subrufa, Sternotherus minor and Kinixys belliana nogueyi. The study of the behavioural sequences emphasizes the great fluctiation between the exhibited behaviour patterns and specifies the means leading to the female's stabilization. The sexual behaviours (knowed from this study or the litterature) of P.s.subrufa, S. minor, K. belliana nogueyi, Geochelone carbonaria, Testudo g. graeca, Emys orbicularis, Chrysemys scripta elegans, Chemmys nigricans and Meosemys grandis were submitted to a discriminant analysis to establish certain phylogenetic relations by use of behavioural criteria. We emphasize here the difficulties of the interpretation of this lethod. However, we establish a relative ratification of the phylogeny founded on morphological characters.