Ornate Box Turtle

Maximum longevity: 28.4 years (captivity)

The ornate box turtle's day consists of basking, foraging and resting. After emerging from their night time burrow or concealed resting place soon after dawn, the turtle will bask for a few minutes before commencing its search for food. The ornate box turtle is primarily carnivorous, consuming insects such as beetles, caterpillars, grasshoppers and even carrion, but some plant material is also eaten, such as mulberries (4), grasses, blackberries, ground cherries and prickly pears (2). It seeks shady spots to forage in and will stop foraging and seek shelter during the hottest part of the day. During summer, the turtles may spend the hot midday hours in pools of water (4). Spring is the time of courtship and mating in the ornate box turtle. This consists of a male pursuing a female for nearly 30 minutes, nudging her shell and then hurling himself on her back. The male uses the enlarged claws on his hindfeet to grip the female. Mating in this species is known to last as long as two hours (4). Nesting takes place between early May and mid-July, with a peak in June. The nests of the ornate box turtle are flask-shaped, five to six centimetres deep, and situated in open, well-drained areas with soft substrate (4). The size of the clutch ranges from one to eight eggs, with larger females generally laying more eggs. It has also been observed that T. o. ornata lays larger clutches than T. o. luteola. The brittle, white eggs are incubated for about 70 days. Ornate box turtle hatchlings measure around three centimetres long, and do not yet have a fully developed hinge on their plastron; this becomes functional by the age of four (4). Before this defence strategy can be used, the young box turtles may be more vulnerable to predation by raptors, crows, domestic cats and dogs, foxes, and racoons (2). In October, ornate box turtles begin to enter hibernation, when they move into sheltered ravines and wooded areas (4). Some dig their own burrows, often after rains when the ground is softened, or they use burrows excavated by other turtles or mammals (2), and here they will remain until they emerge in March or April (4). The lifespan of ornate box turtles is at least 32 years, and may be as many as 37 years (2).

Although not considered globally threatened on the IUCN Red List , there are measures in place to control the detrimental effect commercial collection can have on box turtles. Colorado, Kansas and Nebraska all prohibit the commercial collection of this species, but allow some non-commercial collection. In Iowa, Indiana and Wisconsin it is protected by state law and Texas is currently considering restricting collection of box turtles (2). In addition, its listing on Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) means that any international trade in this species should be carefully monitored (3). A conservation program for the ornate box turtle currently exists in Wisconsin, where the Department of Natural Resources is attempting to restore declining populations by taking eggs from the wild and raising the young in a protected environment before returning them to the wild; relocating adults from populations in Texas, Kansas and Nebraska; and using roadside barriers and signs to reduce road deaths (2) (6).

The ornate box turtle has a domed, round or oval carapace (upper shell) that is dark brown to reddish-brown, often with a yellow stripe running down the centre. The shell is made up of bony plates, or scutes, which are patterned with yellow lines radiating from the centre. The scutes on the lower shell (plastron) also bear this pattern (4). There are two subspecies of the ornate box turtle: Terrapene ornata ornate is generally darker in colour than Terrapene ornate luteola (also known as the desert box turtle) which has a more yellowish shell (2). The plastron is hinged and can be closed completely against the carapace, allowing the turtle to completely withdraw its head and feet and enclose them within a protective 'box' (2). The fairly small head of the ornate box turtle is brown to green in colour, with yellow spots and yellow jaws. The limbs and tail are dark brown, also with some yellow spotting. Male and female ornate box turtles can be distinguished by the larger size of the female and the colour of the irises; males have red eyes while those of females are yellowish-brown (4). In addition, males have a longer, thicker tails than females and bear an enlarged claw on their hindfeet that is used during mating (2).

T. o. ornata inhabits plains and gently rolling grasslands, with scattered low brush but no trees. T. o. luteola occurs in more arid habitats, in semi-desert to desert, where it favours areas with low soil temperatures, high air temperatures, and low humidity levels (4).

The ornate box turtle occurs in the United States and Mexico. T. o. ornata occurs in western Indiana and eastern Wyoming, south to south-western Louisiana and eastern New Mexico. T. o. luteola ranges from Texas and south-eastern Arizona south into north-eastern Sonora and northern Chihuahua, Mexico (4).

Classified as Lower Risk / Near Threatened (LR/nt) on the IUCN Red List 2007 (1) and listed on Appendix II of CITES (3).

While numbers of the ornate box turtle are abundant in some areas (4), in other parts of its range this species is threatened by human activities (2). The most significant threat to this turtle is the conversion of vast areas of grassland into farms and ranches (2). The ornate box turtle seems to tolerate light grazing of livestock on their grassland habitat, but the cultivation of irrigated crops, such as corn, often results in the ornate box turtle disappearing from the area (4). Agricultural development has greatly affected many populations over the last century and continues to pose an ongoing threat to this turtle (2). In addition to this extensive habitat conversion, the ornate box turtle is threatened by urban expansion, which has been encroaching on the turtle's habitat in recent decades, and road construction; roadkill is a major cause of mortality for this turtle (2). The ornate box turtle has also been impacted by collection for the commercial pet trade (2) (4). This species is said to be one of the most frequently seen box turtles in the pet trade in the United States and Europe (5), despite it apparently not surviving for very long once outside of its natural range (4). Unfortunately, law enforcement is hindered by inadequate funding, a lack of personnel and the problems associated with monitoring the extensive areas where box turtles occur (2).

Continent: Middle-America North-America
Distribution: USA (Wisconsin, Illinois, W Indiana, Iowa, S South Dakota, SE Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, SW Louisiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, New Mexico, SE Arizona), Mexico (Sonora, Chihuahua) ornata: USA (Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kan- sas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico,Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Wisconsin);
Type locality: œFrom the Upper Missouri . . . and from Iowa (see œRemarks); fi rst restricted to œCouncil Bluffs [Pottawattomie County], Iowa by Smith and Taylor (1950b:36), later to œjunction of the Platte and Missouri rivers by Schmidt (1953:951), and finally to Burlington [Des Moines County], Iowa, the locality of the lectotype, MCZ 1536, by Smith and Smith (1980:587). See Smith and Smith (1980) for a discussion of the history of the type locality designations and earlier erroneous restrictions. luteola: Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Sonora), USA (Arizona, New Mexico, Texas)

Cistudo ornata Agassiz, 1857

[= Terrapene ornata (Agassiz, 1857); fide, Baur, 1891:191, Ward, 1978:217.1]

Agassiz, 1857, Contrib. Nat. Hist. U.S. America (Testudinata), p. 445, pl. 3: figs. 12–13.

Paralectotype: USNM 57 (alcoholic adult female, CL 95 mm), Yellowstone, collected by Ferdinand V. Hayden, date unknown, cataloged 14 Feb 1856 (see “Remarks”).

Type Locality: “From the Upper Missouri … and from Iowa” (see “Remarks”); first restricted to “Council Bluffs [Pottawattomie County], Iowa” by Smith and Taylor (1950b:36), later to “junction of the Platte and Missouri rivers” by Schmidt (1953:951), and finally to “Burlington [Des Moines County], Iowa,” the locality of the lectotype, MCZ 1536, by Smith and Smith (1980:587). See Smith and Smith (1980) for a discussion of the history of the type locality designations and earlier erroneous restrictions.

Other Type Material: Lectotype: MCZ 1536, designated by Smith and Smith (1980:587).

Etymology: The name ornata is from the Latin ornatus, decorated or adorned, referring to the streaked pattern of the carapace.

Remarks: Agassiz (1857:445) did not record the museum numbers of the type series of Cistudo ornata [= Terrapene ornata] but stated that he had “examined many hundred specimens of the genus” [Cistudo= Terrapene], so the exact number of individuals constituting the original type series is unknown, and this has led to confusion. He called Cistudo ornata “the north-western type” of Cistudo to differentiate it from his “north-eastern type” [C. virginea] and “western and south-western type” [C. triunguis]. Agassiz was clear, however, in recording the type localities of the specimens of C. ornata that he had examined: “I have received specimens from the Upper Missouri [River] through the Smithsonian Institution, and from Iowa through Dr. J. Rauch.” Cochran (1961:229) listed USNM 57, 7541, 7542, and 7547 as syntypes in the National Museum, and Ward (1978:1) also recognized these specimens as syntypes of Cistudo ornata. USNM 7542, collected by Dr. Robert W. Kennicott in Illinois, has a catalog notation by George R. Zug stating: “probably not a syntype, since not from a locality mentioned in the type description.” We agree with Zug’s conclusion and have removed USNM 7542 from the syntopic series. USNM 7541 (“Southern Boundary Kansas”) was originally cataloged as four specimens, but Cochran (1961) indicated that only the one specimen currently carrying that number was a syntype. One of the other original three specimens of USNM 7541 was recataloged as USNM 131837, one is now BMNH 1873.8.13.3, and the fate of the last specimen is unknown. In addition to USNM 7541 (including USNM 131837 and BMNH 1873.8.13.3), both USNM 7547 and 7740 from the Republican River, Kansas, have been annotated as possible syntypes in the USNM catalog; however, locality data for these records is inconsistent with the type locality given by Agassiz (1857:445). The entry for paralectotype USNM 57 has the notation “Agassiz type” in the catalog. The locality for USNM 57 in the catalog, “Yellowstone,” is both confusing and questionable (Ward, 1978) because it is different from the type locality “Upper Missouri.” However, Baird gave the locality of USNM 57 as “Upper Missouri” (Herber, 1963:121) in a letter to Agassiz dated 23 Feb 1856, which clearly established the association of USNM 57 to the type locality. Maxwell et al. (2003:104) briefly reviewed the published reports of Terrapene ornata from southwest Montana and concluded that the reports are based either on translocated animals or on paralectotype USNM 57, a locality record they also regard as suspect. They conclude that USNM 57 is likely the specimen of Cistudo reported by Ferdinand Hayden (1858, 1863) from “the mouth of the Powder River” (a tributary of the Yellowstone River), but that the locality listed is either incorrect or represents a shipping locality. However, on the basis of the locality reported in Hayden (1858:104) and the data recorded in the museum catalog, we see no reason to doubt the locality record.

Terrapene ornata is a species of North American box turtle sometimes referred to as the western box turtle or the ornate box turtle. It is one of two recognized species of box turtle in the United States, having two subspecies. The second recognized species of box turtle is the eastern box turtle, Terrapene carolina. T. carolina has six subspecies, two of which are endemic to Mexico.