To construct an ethogram of Sacalia quadriocellata and introduce coding system into chelonian behavior research for quantitative comparison, 15 captive S. quadriocellata (eight females and seven males) were observed for one year using a digital surveillance system, and an ethogram constructed. Fourteen types of states and 84 types of events were recorded.

Seventy-five behaviors were defined and described, and these were classified into eight categories of behavior. Feeding, Elimination, Conflict, Alert, Rest, Locomotion, Courtship, and Other. Feeding, Elimination, and Locomotion are frequent behaviors, whereas Conflict and Other behaviors are seldom observed. Mainly, this may be caused by environmental conditions that eliminate these plastic behaviors (e.g., Conflict and Other behaviors) and keep the nonplastic behaviors (e.g., Feeding, Elimination, and Locomotion).

Finally, the comparison between S. quadriocellata and other chelonian species indicate that the behavioral patterns are similar on the whole, but the Conflict behaviors of S. quadriocellata are milder than other species.

It got supports from Natural Science Foundation of China,　Hainan Key Project of Science and Technology,　Cleveland Zoo,　Board of Governors, Royal Ontario Museum,　and Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

Researchers from Hainan Normal University and chengdu Institute of Biology cooperated to study this job.