Ornate Box Turtle ²

Ornate Box Turtles are fully terrestrial turtles, spending their entire lives on land. They have no webbing on their robust, long-clawed feet, and cannot swim for any length of time. Box turtles are named for the special hinge on their lower shell that allows them to fully enclose themselves when confronted by threats. As with most box turtles, male Ornate Box Turtles have red eyes, while females have yellowish brown eyes. Ornate Box Turtles are named for their elaborate markings: yellowish-orange stripes on the upper shell, spots on the legs and head, and complex patterns on the lower shell. Common Box Turtles have less impressive markings, and they also have a totally plain lower shell. Ornate Box Turtles are smaller and prefer more open areas like meadows, prairies, and marshes; Common Box Turtles are larger and prefer open woodland.

Sources and Credits

1. (c) Eric Osmundson, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://www.flickr.com/photos/smalleraperture/7414357706/
2. Adapted by hancnaturalist from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrapene_ornata

More Info

• iNat taxon page
• Animal Diversity Web
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• HerpMapper
• NatureServe Explorer 2.0
• The Reptile Database
• VertNet

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