Map Mute Turtle
| Map Mute Turtle | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Map mute turtle ( Graptemys geographica ) |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Graptemys geographica | ||||||||||||
| ( Le Sueur , 1817) |
The map mute turtle ( Graptemys geographica ) is a species of mute turtle from the New World pond turtle family . Its name is similar to the false map mute turtle , of which the two subspecies Mississippi mute turtle and Missouri mute turtle are often kept as terrarium animals in Central Europe . The map turtle, however, does not go on sale.
Appearance
The map mute turtle takes its name from the net lines that are located on the carapace . The bright lines are reminiscent of the course of water on a map. The lines are yellow to orange and usually have dark borders. The basic color of the back armor is otherwise olive to gray-brown. In older individuals, these fine lines may be completely gone. The carapace length of fully grown mapped mute turtles is up to 24 centimeters.
The ventral shell of adult map turtles is usually a light yellow to creamy white. The head, neck and legs are dark olive, brown to black with thin yellow, green and orange stripes. There is gender dimorphism in both size and body shape. Females are usually significantly larger than the males. Males also have a much more oval shell with a more pronounced keel, a narrower head and longer claws on the forefeet. Their tail is also longer and thicker. The cloaca opening in males is significantly farther away from the ventral shell than in females.
Young animals have a pronounced keel on their back armor. Their shell does not yet have the characteristic coloring of the adult animals. The stripes on the head and extremities, on the other hand, resemble that of the adult animals.
Distribution area and habitat
The map mute turtle is found in an area that extends from southern Quebec to northern Vermont. It lives in its southern area of distribution in the catchment of the St. Lawrence River . To the west, their range extends to the Great Lakes and to southern Wisconsin and eastern Minnesota. It is also found in the catchment area of the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania and Maryland as well as on the Delaware .
The map mute turtle lives in ponds, rivers and lakes. She prefers those waters that have a dense vegetation and offer sufficient opportunities for sunbathing thanks to the trees lying in the water.
Behavior and nutrition
The map mute turtle hibernates from November to April. It then spends most of its time in the water, where it rests under trees in the bottom mud. During the summer months they spend a lot of time dozing in the sun. Usually groups of this mute turtle species can be observed.
Map mute turtles are active both day and night. They are generally very shy and dive into the water at the slightest sign of danger. During the mating season, the male woos the female by knocking on the females' front bodies with his long claws. Further details of courtship behavior have not yet been investigated.
Map mute turtles are omnivores. They only eat their food in water. Because of their larger bodies, heads and stronger jaws, females eat larger prey than males. The diet of the females accordingly has a larger proportion of snails, mussels and crustaceans. The males mainly eat water insects, snails and smaller crustaceans. Both sexes also consume carrion and plant food. Older animals in particular cover up to fifty percent of their food requirements with plants.
Reproduction
The mating season of the map turtles falls in the time of spring and autumn. Mating usually takes place in the water. The females lay their eggs from May to July. They prefer non-shaded, sandy spots and dig out the nesting pit with their hind feet. The females often create two clutches.
The clutch comprises between 6 and 20 eggs, which are oval in shape and have an elastic skin. The time until hatching of the young depends on the temperature. The young usually hatch fifty to seventy days after they lay eggs. In late-laid clutches, the young either hibernate in the eggs or hatch in the nesting pit. The ambient temperature of the clutch determines the sex of the hatching turtles. At an ambient temperature of 25 degrees, most of the hatched animals are males. If, on the other hand, the ambient temperature was 30 to 35 degrees, it is predominantly females that hatch from the eggs.
literature
- R. Conant, J. Collins: Reptiles and Amphibians in the Eastern / Central North America . Houghton Mifflin, New York 1998, ISBN 0-395-90452-8 .
- J. Harding: Amphibians and Reptiles of the Great Lakes Region . The University of Michigan Press, Michigan 1997, ISBN 0-472-09628-1 .
Web links
- Graptemys geographica in The Reptile Database
- Graptemys geographica inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Posted by: van Dijk, PP, 2010. Accessed February 1, 2014.