Turtles

The desert box turtle, also known as the Sonoran box turtle, (Terrapene ornata luteola) is a subspecies of box turtle which is endemic to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. They are generally terrestrial but occasionally take to the water and are most known for their boxy shell and its structural integrity. The desert box turtles are most active in late June or early July into early October, with greatest activity in July and August. The desert box turtle is endemic to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. It lives in desert grasslands/shrublands and may face a drier, more severe environment compared with other box turtles in North America. They prefer arid, open prairie areas but have also been found in grassland regions where there is an abundance of yucca around. The most obvious morphological feature of box turtles is their bony boxy shell that consists of scutes covering the carapace. The scutes are used to enhance structural support and give the box turtles their sculpted appearance. In box turtles, the bones in their shell fuse together unlike in other turtles. Their ribs and vertebral column are fused with their bony shell. Other characteristics include a continuous middorsal yellow line on its carapace and the plastron is solid brown with yellow spots and has mottling on its head and legs. Although, some males can have an entirely green head. Their colors are muted for camouflage in the desert and mature turtles are lighter and more muted than the juvenile. Most, but not all male turtles have red irises. Male box turtles also include concave plastrons, thicker tails with the cloaca closer to the tip, and longer rear legs with larger curved claws which are used to grip the female shell during mating. They also have a similar internal anatomy to freshwater turtles except for the fact that they lack a degenerative cloacal bursae because they do not need to hibernate in water. Most adults have about a 125–130 mm carapace length, in where the females were significantly longer than males. It has also been seen that the number of years they can live up to is between 30 and 40 years old.

The range of the green sea turtle extends throughout tropical and subtropical oceans worldwide. The two major subpopulations are the Atlantic and the eastern Pacific subpopulations. Each population is genetically distinct, with its own set of nesting and feeding grounds within the population's known range. Its appearance is that of a typical sea turtle. Green Sea Turtle has a dorsoventrally flattened body, a beaked head at the end of a short neck, and paddle-like arms well-adapted for swimming.Adult green turtles grow to 1.5 metres (5 ft) long. The average weight of mature individuals is 68–190 kg (150–419 lb) and the average carapace length is 78–112 cm (31–44 in). Exceptional specimens can weigh 315 kg (694 lb) or even more, with the largest known Green Sea Turtle having weighed 395 kg (871 lb) and measured 153 cm (60 in) in carapace length.

The Kemp’s ridley turtle is the world’s most endangered sea turtle. Their perilous situation is attributed primarily to the over-harvesting of their eggs during the last century. And though their nesting grounds are protected and many commercial fishing fleets now use turtle excluder devices in their nets, these turtles have not been able to rebound. Found primarily in the Gulf of Mexico, but also as far north as Nova Scotia, Kemp’s ridleys are among the smallest sea turtles, reaching only about 2 feet in shell length and weighing up to 100 pounds. Their upper shell, or carapace, is a greenish-grey color, and their bellies are off-white to yellowish.

The largest of all hard-shelled turtles, loggerheads are named for their massive heads and strong jaws (leatherbacks are bigger but have soft shells). Their reddish-brown shell, or carapace, is heart-shaped. Their front flippers propel them through the water like wings, and their hind feet stabilize and steer them. While adults males generally weigh about 250 pounds, loggerheads of more than a thousand pounds have been found. The Loggerhead is considered a “keystone species,” meaning that other animals in its ecosystem depend on it for survival. These turtles feed on invertebrates, whose shells pass through their digestive systems and, upon excretion, fall back to the bottom of the ocean for other animals to eat as a calcium source. Predators also rely on loggerhead hatchlings for food, while more than a hundred species of animals—including barnacles, crabs, and algae—live on their shells. These highly migratory turtles have an enormous range that encompasses all but the most frigid waters of the world’s oceans. They prefer coastal habitats in temperate and subtropical regions, though they often frequent inland water bodies and will travel hundreds of miles to reach them.

The ornate box turtle (Terrapene ornata ornata) is one of only two terrestrial species of turtles native to the Great Plains of the United States. It is one of the two different subspecies of Terrapene ornata. It is the state reptile of Kansas. The lifespan of the ornate box turtle has been reported to be from 32 to 37 years, with studies showing that males occur about half as frequently as females. The reason for the predominance of females is thought to be primarily due to temperature; incubating eggs at 29 °C (84 °F) produces 100% female offspring, so in the wild a combination of temperature, humidity, and other factors are thought to favor female differentiation.