Eastern Box Turtle

Eastern box turtle
Male Eastern Box Turtle
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Subphylum:	Vertebrata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Testudines
Family:	Emydidae
Genus:	Terrapene
Species:	T. carolina
Subspecies:	T. c. carolina
Trinomial name
Terrapene carolina carolina (Linnaeus, 1768)
Synonyms
click to expand Testudo carolina Linnaeus, 1758 Testudo carinata Linnaeus, 1758 Testudo brevicaudata Lacépède, 1788 Testudo incarcerata Bonnaterre, 1789 Testudo incarceratostriata Bonnaterre, 1789 Testudo clausa Gmelin, 1789 Testudo virgulata Latreille, 1801 Testudo caroliniana Daudin, 1801 (ex errore) Emydes clausa Brongniart, 1805 Emys clausa – Schweigger, 1812 Emys schneideri Schweigger, 1812 Emys virgulata – Schweigger, 1812 Didicla clausa – Rafinesque, 1815 Terrapene clausa – Merrem, 1820 Monoclida kentukensis Rafinesque, 1822 Cistudo clausa Say, 1825 Terrapene carolina Bell, 1825 Terrapene maculata Bell, 1825 Terrapene nebulosa Bell, 1825 Terraphene clausa – Gray, 1825 Terrapene virgulata – Fitzinger, 1826 Emys tritentaculata Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1829 (nomen nudum) Emys (Cistuda) carolinae Gray, 1831 (ex errore) Emys kinosternoides Gray, 1831 Testudo irregulata Daudin, 1831 (nomen nudum) Cistuda carolina – Gray, 1831 Didicla clausa – Rafinesque, 1832 Emys cinosternoides A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1835 (ex errore) Emys schneiderii A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1835 (ex errore) Testudo incarceratastriata A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1835 (ex errore) Cinosternon clausum – Henle, 1839 Pyxidemys clausa – Fitzinger, 1843 Terrapene carolina maculata – LeConte, 1854 Terrapene carolina nebulosa – LeConte, 1854 Cistudo carolinensis Gray, 1856 (ex errore) Cistudo carolina – Agassiz, 1857 Cistudo virginea Agassiz, 1857 Terrapene carinata – Strauch, 1862 Cistudo eurypygia Cope, 1869 Cistudo carinata – Garman, 1884 Cistudo carolina var. cinosternoides – Boulenger, 1889 Cinosternum clausum – Hoffmann, 1890 Cistudo cinosternoides – Garman, 1892 Terrapene eurypygia – O.P. Hay, 1902 Terrapene cinosternoides – Siebenrock, 1909 Terrapene carolina carolina – Stejneger & Barbour, 1917 Terrapene cardlina Proctor, 1922 (ex errore) Terepene carolina – Breder, 1924 Terrapene kinosternoides – Lindholm, 1929 Terrapene caritana Schmidt, 1953 (ex errore) Terrapene carolinensis – Schmidt, 1953 Terrapene carolinina Schmidt, 1953 (ex errore)

The Eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina) is a subspecies within a group of hinge-shelled turtles, normally called box turtles. T. c. carolina is native to the eastern part of the United States.

The eastern box turtle is a subspecies of the common box turtle (Terrapene carolina). While in the pond turtle family, Emydidae, and not a tortoise, the box turtle is largely terrestrial. Box turtles are slow crawlers, extremely long lived, slow to mature, and have relatively few offspring per year. These characteristics, along with a propensity to get hit by cars and agricultural machinery, make all box turtle species particularly susceptible to anthropogenic, or human-induced, mortality.

In 2011, citing "a widespread persistent and ongoing gradual decline of Terrapene carolina that probably exceeds 32% over three generations", the IUCN downgraded its conservation status from Near Threatened to Vulnerable.

Eastern box turtles have a high, dome-like carapace and a hinged plastron that allows total shell closure. The carapace can be of variable coloration, but is normally found brownish or black and is accompanied by a yellowish or orangish radiating pattern of lines, spots or blotches. Skin coloration, like that of the shell, is variable, but is usually brown or black with some yellow, orange, red, or white spots or streaks. This coloration closely mimics that of the winter leaf of the tulip poplar. In some isolated populations, males may have blue patches on their cheeks, throat, and front legs. Furthermore, males normally possess red eyes (irises) whereas females usually display brown eyes. Eastern box turtles feature a sharp, horned beak, stout limbs, and their feet are webbed only at the base. Eastern box turtles have 5 toes on each front leg, and normally 4 toes on each hind leg, although some individuals may possess 3 toes on each hind leg. Staying small in size, most range from 4.5 to 6 inches, but occasionally reach over 7 inches. In the captivity, box turtles are known to live over 100 years, but in the wild, often live much shorter lives due to disease and predation.

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Wikipedia