Give Monthly
to GWF
Make a One-Time Donation
|
|
About Us < Features < Spring 2007 <North America's Tiniest Turtle - The Bog Turtle
The Georgia Wildlife Website, developed and maintained by the Georgia Museum of Natural history and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (http://dromus
.nhm.uga.edu/gawildlife/
gaww.html) defines the range of Georgia's turtles: "North America's smallest and largest turtles are found in Georgia. The Bog Turtle only grows to 11.4 cm (4.5 in.) in length, while the Leatherback Sea Turtle reaches 189 cm (74.4 in) and weighs 916 kg (2019 lbs, or slightly over 1 ton)."
While the Bog Turtle is diminutive, it is part of Georgia's most diverse and numerous turtle family, call Emydidae, including 8 genera and 13 species. Among the Bog Turtle's cousins is the familiar Box Turtle, frequenting streams, yards and road sides throughout Georgia. But the Bog Turtle is far less common - so much so that it "is on the U.S. Endangered Species List. . . classified as threatened in Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania," according to the National Wildlife Federation's eNature (www.enature.com). "The southern population, found in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia, is not considered threatened but receives protection under the Endangered Species Act as a population similar in appearance to a threatened population." As such it is an example of the species identified in Georgia's State Wildlife Action Plan. An overall strategy of the plan aims to "'keep common species common' as well as prevent or minimize further extirpation or extinction of the more imperiled species."
"Bog turtles have declined throughout their range because of loss of wetland habitat. Development, water-management practices, agriculture, and road building have all contributed to altering their habitats and to impeding the turtles' access to new habitats.
"This turtle has also suffered at the hands of collectors, as it is coveted in the pet trade because of its small size, attractive coloration, and even because of its rarity."
Also known as Muhlenberg's Turtle, the small brown turtle with its conspicuous yellow to reddish blotch on each side of its head and neck, inhabits sunny marsh meadows, seeps and boggy areas. The carapace (upper shell) is domed and roughly rectangular; scutes (shell plates) may exhibit a lighter sunburst pattern on each and frequently have prominent rings. Active from April to mid-October -- when both air and water temperatures are above about 50 degrees F -- it preys on tadpoles, slugs, snails, worms and insects.
|
