Long-necked turtle
| Long-necked turtle | ||||||||||||
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Long-necked ear turtle ( Deirochelys reticularia ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Deirochelys | ||||||||||||
| Agassiz , 1857 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Deirochelys reticularia | ||||||||||||
| ( Latreille , 1801) |
The long-necked turtle ( Deirochelys reticularia ) is a species of the New World pond turtle (Emydidae) family. It occurs in three subspecies in North America .
Appearance
Female long-necked turtles reach up to 25 cm in shell length. The length of the carapace is usually between 15 and 18 centimeters. Males are usually slightly smaller than females. The mostly olive-colored shell is finely wrinkled and shows a yellow-green net pattern, which also serves to distinguish the three subspecies from one another. This armor color disappears with increasing age and older animals have an increasingly dark olive to almost black back armor. The edge shield of the armor and the belly armor are yellow.
As the name "long-necked turtle" suggests, they have an exceptionally long neck. It reaches 80 percent of the carapace length. The orange-yellow stripes with which the neck is drawn. There are vertical light stripes on the fuselage. There is a wide stripe on the front leg.
distribution and habitat
The species has three subspecies, each of which has a non-overlapping range.
- The eastern long-necked turtle ( Deirochelys reticularia reticularia ) occurs along the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf Coast from Virginia to the Mississippi River .
- Florida long-necked turtle ( Deirochelys reticularia chrysea ) comes from Florida .
- Western long-necked turtle ( Deirochelys reticularia miaria ) occurs from western Mississippi through southeast Missouri and southeast Oklahoma south to the Gulf of Mexico .
The long necked turtle inhabits shallow ponds, lakes, ponds and cypress swamps. It is only very rarely found in running waters. However, it often stays out of the water and can move quite far from the nearest body of water.
Way of life
Long-necked ear turtles eat the usual animal food, which is also characteristic of other New World pond turtles. In addition, however, it also eats considerable amounts of plant-based food. The breeding time depends on the respective distribution area. Populations in South Carolina usually mate in March. Mating can be seen year round in Florida. The clutch consists of five to 15 eggs. The time until hatching depends on the temperature, it is around 60 to 70 days at a temperature of 25 to 30 degrees.
proof
literature
- Manfred Rogner: Tortoises - biology, keeping, reproduction , Eugen Ulmer KG, Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 978-3-8001-5440-1 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Rogner, p. 61
