Desert box turtle

The desert box turtle Terrapene ornata luteola is a subspecies of box turtle which is endemic to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico

Contents

• 1 Geographic range
• 2 Habitat
• 3 Diet
• 4 Description
• 5 Hibernation
• 6 Reproduction
• 7 References
• 8 External links

Geographic rangeedit

It ranges from the Trans-Pecos region of Texas, New Mexico, and southeastern Arizona in the United States, south into Sonora and Chihuahua in Mexico

Habitatedit

It lives in arid, open prairie areas

Dietedit

It is an omnivore, eating native vegetation, insects, and sometimes carrion2

Descriptionedit

All box turtles have a distinctive hinged lowered shell the box that allows them to completely enclose themselves The desert box turtle lacks the raised carapace keel of the Eastern Box Turtle, and its colors are muted for camouflage in the desert The colors of the mature turtles are lighter and more muted than the colors of the young Most, but not all, male turtles have red irises Other characteristics of males include concave plastrons, thicker tails with the cloaca nearer the tip, and longer rear legs with larger, curved inside claws which are used to grip the female shell during mating

Hibernationedit

Desert box turtles hibernate in the winter, emerging in April to begin searching for a mate

Reproductionedit

Nesting takes place from May to July Clutch size ranges from two to eight eggs, and incubation lasts about seventy days2 They can live 25 years or more

Males are normally sexually mature by 8–9 years of age, but in captivity have been known to breed as young as age 2 Females normally require 10–11 years to reach sexual maturity Their breeding season lasts between March and May, and nesting sites will be chosen from June to July Males will be sexually active from the time they emerge from hibernation until September or October Males often fight aggressively with other males over females when looking for a mate

Referencesedit

1. ^ Fritz, Uwe; Peter Havaš 2007 "Checklist of Chelonians of the World" PDF Vertebrate Zoology 57 2: 201 Archived from the original PDF on 2010-12-17 Retrieved 29 May 2012 
2. ^ a b Desert Box Turtle Terrapene ornata luteola Pima County Species Fact Sheet

External linksedit

Wikispecies has information related to Desert box turtle

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Terrapene ornata

• ITIS Standard Report Page
• Information from the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum
• Closeup photo of four-year-old male Desert Box Turtle

v e Family Emydidae pond turtles
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Reptilia Order: Testudines Suborder: Cryptodira Superfamily: Testudinoidea Family: Emydidae
Genus	Species of the subfamily Deirochelyinae
Chrysemys	Painted turtle
Deirochelys	Chicken turtle
Graptemys	Alabama map turtle Barbour's map turtle Black-knobbed map turtle Cagle's map turtle Escambia map turtle False map turtle Northern map turtle Ouachita map turtle Pascagoula map turtle Pearl River map turtle Ringed map turtle Texas map turtle Yellow-blotched map turtle
Malaclemys	Diamondback terrapin
Pseudemys	Alabama red-bellied cooter Northern red-bellied cooter Florida red-bellied cooter Peninsula cooter Rio Grande cooter River cooter Texas river cooter
Trachemys	Big Bend slider Baja California slider Central Antillean slider Colombian slider Cuatro Cienegas slider Cuban slider D'Orbigny's slider Hispaniolan slider Jamaican slider Maranhão slider Meso-American slider Nicaraguan slider Ornate slider Pond slider Yaqui slider
	Species of the subfamily Emydinae
Clemmys	Spotted turtle
Emys	Blanding's turtle European pond turtle Sicilian pond turtle Western pond turtle
Glyptemys	Bog turtle Wood turtle
Terrapene	Coahuilan box turtle Common box turtle Ornate box turtle Spotted box turtle
Phylogenetic arrangement based on turtles of the world 2011 update: annotated checklist Subspecies and the extinct Gyremys sectabilis are not included

v e Extant turtle taxonomy
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Reptilia Subclass: Anapsida Order: Chelonii or Testudines
Suborder	Superfamily Family Subfamily Genus
Cryptodira	Chelydridae   Chelydra Macrochelys Chelonioidea Cheloniidae Carettinae Caretta Lepidochelys Cheloniinae Chelonia Eretmochelys Natator Dermochelyidae   Dermochelys Kinosternoidea Dermatemydidae   Dermatemys Kinosternidae Kinosterninae Kinosternon Sternotherus Staurotypinae Claudius Staurotypus Testudinoidea Emydidae Deirochelyinae Chrysemys Deirochelys Graptemys Malaclemys Pseudemys Trachemys Emydinae Clemmys Emys Glyptemys Terrapene Geoemydidae Geoemydinae Batagur Cuora Cyclemys Geoclemys Geoemyda Hardella Heosemys Leucocephalon Malayemys Mauremys Melanochelys Morenia Notochelys Orlitia Pangshura Sacalia Siebenrockiella Vijayachelys Rhinoclemmydinae Rhinoclemmys  Platysternidae   Platysternon Testudinidae   Aldabrachelys Astrochelys Chelonoidis Chersina Cylindraspis Geochelone Gopherus Homopus Indotestudo Kinixys Malacochersus Manouria Psammobates Pyxis Stigmochelys Testudo Trionychia Carettochelyidae   Carettochelys Trionychidae Cyclanorbinae Cyclanorbis Cycloderma Lissemys Trionychinae Amyda Apalone Chitra Dogania Nilssonia Palea Pelochelys Pelodiscus Rafetus Trionyx
Pleurodira	Chelidae Chelinae Acanthochelys Chelus Mesoclemmys Phrynops Platemys Rhinemys Chelodininae Chelodina Elseya Elusor Emydura Flaviemys Myuchelys Pseudemydura Rheodytes Hydromedusinae Hydromedusa Pelomedusidae   Pelomedusa Pelusios Podocnemididae   Erymnochelys Peltocephalus Podocnemis
Phylogenetic arrangement based on turtles of the world 2012 update: annotated checklist Extinct turtles not included Portal Book See also List of Testudines families

Taxon identifiers	Wd: Q3817366 EoL: 1254562 GBIF: 6156914 iNaturalist: 39808 ITIS: 208603 NCBI: 391343

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