Sea Turtle Hatchling Dataset: Morphology, Physiology & Digging Behavior

This dataset contains morphological (straight carapace length (mm), straight carapace width (mm), right flipper length (mm), body depth (mm), residual yolk size (mm), body mass (g)) and physiological (blood glucose level (mmol/L), self-righting time (s)) measurements of green turtle (Chelonia mydas) hatchlings, along with their digging duration (s) during nest escape.Data were collected from hatchlings incubated in controlled conditions, with acoustic monitoring used to track digging behaviour. Microphones were installed at the bottom, middle, and top layers of the nest depth to record the duration of hatchling digging activity during their nest escaping process from the bottom to the top of the nest.Hatchlings were sampled using a 3:1 ratio (large : small clutch sizes) to assess differences in morphology, physiology, and digging behaviour. For physiological data, only 10 hatchlings were randomly selected to represent each nest. The large group consisted of clutches with 60 eggs (n = 3) and 45 eggs (n = 3), while the small group consisted of clutches with 20 eggs (n = 3) and 15 eggs (n = 3). Additionally, three baseline chambers (60 eggs each) were used to compare the effects of splitting clutches on hatchling traits.The missing data for some nest_id entries are due to unhatched eggs or hatchlings that did not successfully emerge to the sand surface.batch_id represents the batch of excavation from the turtle sanctuary. Hatchlings with the same batch_id originated from the same nest in the turtle sanctuary before being transferred to the controlled incubation conditions.Data Collection DetailsStudy period: May to September 2023Location: Redang Island, Terengganu, MalaysiaData Files and FormatThe dataset is stored in two CSV files for accessibility and ease of use:morphology_physiology.csv – Contains morphological and physiological measurements of hatchlings (564 rows × 13 columns)digging_duration.csv – Contains digging duration and timing data (4115 rows × 5 columns)Both files can be opened using spreadsheet software such as Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, or statistical tools like R and Python (Pandas library).