Editing Turtle (section)

=== Courtship and mounting===

<!--need to lead in here, section is not about one species-->Courtship varies between species, and with habitat. It is often complex in aquatic species, both marine and freshwater, but simpler in the semi-aquatic mud turtles and snapping turtles. A male tortoise bobs his head, then subdues the female by biting and butting her before mounting.<ref name=Firefly/> The male [[scorpion mud turtle]] approaches the female from the rear, and often resorts to aggressive methods such as biting the female's tail or hind limbs, followed by a mounting.<ref name="Berry Iverson 2011">{{Cite journal |last1=Berry |first1=James |last2=Iverson |first2=John |date=December 2011 |title=''Kinosternon scorpioides'' (Linnaeus 1766) – Scorpion Mud Turtle |journal=Conservation Biology of Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises |pages=063.1–063.15 |doi=10.3854/crm.5.063.scorpioides.v1.2011 |url=http://www.iucn-tftsg.org/wp-content/uploads/file/Accounts/crm_5_063_scorpioides_v1_2011.pdf |access-date=August 20, 2019 |isbn=978-0-9653540-9-7 |doi-access=free |archive-date=February 4, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190204032917/http://www.iucn-tftsg.org/wp-content/uploads/file/Accounts/crm_5_063_scorpioides_v1_2011.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

Female choice is important in some species, and female green sea turtles are not always receptive. As such, they have evolved behaviors to avoid the male's attempts at copulation, such as swimming away, confronting the male followed by biting or taking up a refusal position with her body vertical, her limbs widely outspread, and her plastron facing the male. If the water is too shallow for the refusal position, the females resort to beaching themselves, as the males do not follow them ashore.<ref name="Booth 1972"/>

[[File:Three-toed Box Turtle (47930139991).jpg|thumb|Mounting behavior in the [[three-toed box turtle]] |alt=Photograph of a male turtle mounting a female]]

All turtles fertilize internally; mounting and copulation can be difficult. In many species, males have a concave plastron that interlocks with the female's carapace. In species like the [[Russian tortoise]], the male has a lighter shell and longer legs. The high, rounded shape of box turtles are particular obstacles for mounting. The male [[eastern box turtle]] leans backward and hooks onto the back of the female's plastron.{{sfn|Orenstein|2012|pp=270–271}} Aquatic turtles mount in water,{{sfn|Orenstein|2012|p=270}}{{sfn|Franklin|2011|p=33}} and female sea turtles support the mounting male while swimming and diving.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ripple |first1=J. |year=1996 |title=Sea Turtles |publisher=Voyageur Press |page=26 |isbn=978-0-89658-315-3}}</ref> During copulation, the male turtle aligns his tail with the female's so he can insert his penis into her cloaca.{{sfn|Franklin|2011|pp=20–22}} Some female turtles can [[Female sperm storage|store sperm]] from multiple males and their [[Clutch (eggs)|egg clutches]] can have multiple sires.{{sfn|Orenstein|2012|p=260}}<ref name="Pearse 2001"/>