Tropical turtle
| Tropical turtle | ||||||||||||
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Tropical Tortoise ( Clemmys guttata ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Clemmys | ||||||||||||
| Ritgen , 1828 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Clemmys guttata | ||||||||||||
| ( Schneider , 1792) |
The tropical sea turtle ( Clemmys guttata ) is a monotypical species from the New World pond turtle family . It is the only representative of the genus Clemmys . Up until a few years ago, two other species, the forest turtle and the moor turtle, were added to the genus Clemmys. Today, however, these two species are listed in their own genus, the American turtles .
Appearance
With a maximum carapace length of 12.5 cm, the pear turtle is an extremely small representative of the New World pond turtle . The basic color of the smooth and flat armor on the back is black. It has a pattern of irregularly distributed, yellow to orange, rounded spots. The yellow to orange belly armor has a large black spot on each shield. The dark head is also spotted yellow to orange. Males have a brown chin, a dark- colored iris, slightly concave plastra and, especially at the root, thicker tails, while the females have a yellow chin, a yellow iris, a flat belly armor and a shorter, thinner tail.
distribution and habitat
The range of the tropical tortoise is the northeast of the USA , from Illinois to Indiana , Tennessee to Georgia . You can find them sporadically in southern Canada . North Florida is the southernmost region in which they were found.
Tropical tortoises live in shallow waters. These can be standing or flowing slowly. They also like bodies of water with lush vegetation and a soft, muddy bottom. It is very closely tied to bodies of water and rarely leaves them. Tropical tortoises are just clumsy swimmers. As a rule, they migrate along the bottom of the water in the shallow water area.
Natural enemies
Birds of prey and small predators can be dangerous to young turtles in particular, but also to adult animals.
Reproduction and oviposition
At the age of three to four years, tropical tortoises become sexually mature. Mating season is in spring between March and May, when the water has temperatures between 9 and 15 ° C. If the females are not yet ready to mate, they frantically and panickedly flee from the males and hide. If, on the other hand, a female is ready to mate, she will stretch her head and neck far out of her shell and stop.
After mating, the eggs are laid in self-dug hollows in the ground between May and June. This usually happens in the evening and can take up to three hours. Then the females shovel earth over the eggs with their hind legs and thus fill the pit. After that, the turtles do not come back to the hollows. The young turtles hatch about two to three months later, between August and September.
Life expectancy
It is not known exactly how old tropical tortoises get. But there are reports that they can live up to 40 years. A tropical turtle is said to have lived to be 96½ years old, but there is no evidence for this.
Individual evidence and further information
Individual evidence
- ↑ CR Feldman, JF Parham: Molecular phylogenetics of Emydine turtles: taxonomic revision and the evolution of shell kinesis. In: Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 22, 2002, pp. 388-398.
- ↑ Manfred Rogner: Tortoises - biology, keeping, reproduction. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2008, p. 60.
literature
- Manfred Rogner: Tortoises - biology, keeping, reproduction. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 978-3-8001-5440-1 .
Web links
- Clemmys guttata in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2006. Posted by: Tortoise & Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group, 1996. Retrieved on 11 May, 2006.
- Clemmys guttata in The Reptile Database
- Turtles of the World (English).