Sandbox 2 edit
Layout:
- Taxonomy
- Description
- Distribution and habitat
- Evolutionary history
- Ecology and behavior
- Taxonomy
- Description
The spotted turtle is small and has a black bass color. It's upper shell (carapace) is smooth, does not have a central ridge running down the middle (keel), and reaches a maximum of 12.5 centimetres (4.92126 in)*. The defining characteristic of this turtle is the presence of round yellow spots on its upper shell. The bottom shell plastron is yellow or orange-yellow and a black spot is present on each section (scute) however, with age, melanism of the plastron increases until the entire thing is black.[6]
The head is black and the upper jaw is notched; many are spotted. Skin on the dorsal side of the turtle is black with sparse yellow spots while skin on the ventral side may be brighter: orange, pink, or red.[6]
Males and females can be told apart from birth. The male spotted turtle has a tan chin, brown eyes, and a long, thick tail. The chin of the female is yellow; she also has orange eyes and a shorter tail than the male. In addition, the bottom shell of males is concave while it is either flat or convex in females.[6]
- Distribution and habitat
The spotted turtle ranges from southern Maine, Quebec, and Ontario, south along the eastern US to Florida in the east and central Indiana and Ohio in the west.[6][7] Disjunct populations exist in the Canadian portion of its range and also in central Illinois and central Georgia.[7]
- Population features
- Evolutionary history and fossil record
- Ecology and behavior
- Predators
- Diet
The spotted turtle feeds at temperatures above 14.2 °C (57.6 °F), which in its range corresponds to roughly the middle of March onward until September. It is omnivorous and eats exclusively in the water, consuming plant material including aquatic vegetation, green algae, and in at least one instance, wild cranberries. Animal food includes aquatic insect larvae,[8] worms, slugs, milipedes, spiders,[9] crustaceans, tadpoles (genera Bufo and Rana), salamanders, five genera of fish, and even a mallard duck.[8] These items are consumed alive or dead but always in the water.[8]
In captivity, these turtles will eat fruits such as cantaloupe and watermelon and fresh and canned fish.[9]
Some of the insects commonly found in with the spotted turtle's stomach contents are terrestrial, suggesting the turtle moves onto land to hunt.[9]
- Movement
- Life cycle
- Conservation
References edit
- Footnotes
- ^ Ernst 2009, p. 265
- ^ Ernst 2009, p. 253
- ^ "Bog Turtle – Fact Sheet" (PDF). North Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission. 2006. Retrieved 2009-09-19.
- ^ Ernst 2009, p. 266
- ^ Bowen 2004, p. 4 harvnb error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFBowen2004 (help)
- ^ a b c d Ernst 1994, p. 205
- ^ a b "Spotted Turtle Fact Sheet". New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. 2009. Retrieved 2011-01-18.
- ^ a b c Ernst 1994, p. 212
- ^ a b c Ernst 1972, p. 75
- Bibliography
- Bowen, Kenneth (2004). "R9 Species Conservation Assessment for Wood Turtle – Glyptemys insculpta (LeConte, 1830)" (PDF). Retrieved 2010-05-12.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - Ernst, Carl H.; Barbour, Roger William (1972). "Clemmys guttata". Turtles of the United States. Lexington, Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky. pp. 71–75. ISBN 0-8131-1272-9.
- Ernst, Carl H.; Barbour, Roger William; Lovich, Jeffery E. (1994). Dutro, Nancy P (ed.). Turtles of the United States and Canada. Washington and London: Smithsonian Institution Press. pp. 276–296. ISBN 1-56098-346-9.
- Ernst, C. H.; Lovich, J. E. (2009). Turtles of the United States and Canada (2 ed.). JHU Press. pp. 250–271. ISBN 9780801891212.