BIOL 477 Species Recognition Quiz 6

Chrysemys picta - Painted Turtle

10-18cm in length

Smooth carapace with red, yellow, or black patterns with lightened and aligned carapacial seams

Large, rowed scutes going down the length of the carapace

Yellow, unpatterned plastron

Two light spots behind the eyes

Deirochelys reticularia - Chicken Turtle

10-22.5cm in length

Net-like pattern on carapace

Egg shaped shell that tapers towards the back

Hingeless, yellow/orange plastron

Long, striped neck

Yellow and black stripes running down forelimb interior and posterior surface of thighs

Trachemys scripta - Yellow-Bellied Slider

12.5-30.5cm in length

Vertical yellow lines on pleural scutes

Yellow plastron

More domed shell

Yellow mark behind the eyes

Posterior thighs barred vertically with yellow and black

Pseudemys concinna - River Cooter

23-33cm in length

C-Shaped markings on pleural scutes

"Fingerprint" swirls on carapace (can be confused with P. rubriventris)

Heavily marked black and yellow plastron

Dark circled marks on the underside of the marginal scutes

Marginal carapace flare at the edges and merge seamlessly with plastron

Pseudemys rubriventris - Northern Red-Bellied Cooter

25.4-32cm in length

Red/orange/yellow forked markings on pleural scutes

"Fingerprint" swirls on carapace (can be confused with P. concinna)

Distinctive red/orange plastron

Marginal scutes have a single red/orange line running right in the middle

Forward facing arrow on top of head

Sternotherus odoratus - Common Musk Turtle

13.7cm in length

2 Yellow stripes starting at snout and extending to back of head on each side

Vertebral keel in juveniles, usually lost in adults

Single hinge on plastron

Dark brown coloration for body and shell

Sternotherus minor - Stripe-Necked Musk Turtle

11.7cm in carapace length

Distinct dark facial stripes

Light brown to orange colored skin

Vertebral keel in adults

May have two lateral keels

Slight serration on posterior carapace

Single hinge on plastron

Two barbels on chin

Kinosternon baurii - Striped Mud Turtle

11cm in length

Three bright stripes going down length of carapace (can be faded with age)

Light facial stripes extending from nose to behind the eyes

Carapace lacks keel, and may have slight depression

Stripes can be absent in NC

Two hinges on plastron

Coastal plain species

Kinosternon subrubrum - Eastern Mud Turtle

12.5cm in length

Unmarked brown carapace

Carapace lacks keel and is usually smooth

Head is brown with yellow mottling, sometimes with two lines extending from eye to back of head

Two hinges on plastron

Glyptemys muhlenbergii - Bog Turtle

Small; 10.2cm

Orange splotches on neck

Tympanum behind eye

Bright flecks of orange and yellow on the skin

Graptemys geographica - Northern Map Turtle

Serrated scutes on keel

Contour lines on shell

Plastron yellow with dark spot in center

Oval or triangle mark behind eyes

Yellow lines on skin curve up to that mark

Clemmys guttata - Spotted Turtle

Random yellow spots on black carapace

Yellow spots on head

Mature females have orange to red coloration

Males are darker than females

Malaclemys terrapin - Diamondback terrapin

Males small (12.7cm)

Females large (25.4cm)

Scutes have diamond concentric rings

Carapace dark brown-black

Skin white/gray with dark random spots

Terrapene carolina - Eastern Box Turtle

High domed carapace

Scutes have orange yellow splotches

4 toes on each hind foot

Males have red eyes

Hinged carapace, can completely close

Chelydra serpentina - Eastern Snapping Turtle

Long, saw-toothed stail

Head large, plastron small and unhinged

Carapace almost black to light horn

Apalone spinifera - Spiny Softshell

Females 18-54cm

Males 12.5-31cm

Spines or tubercles on front edges of the carapace, feet strongly patterned

Light lines on head usually fail to join

Tubular nostrils

Males olive gray to yellowish brown with dark ocelli. Carapace feels leathery

Caretta caretta - Loggerhead Sea Turtle

Reddish brown

5 or more pleural scutes on each side, first touching cervical

Usually 3 scutes on bridge

Chelonia mydas - Green Sea Turtle

4 pleurals on each side, first not touching cervical

1 pair of prefrontals between eyes

Carapace light or dark brown, sometimes shaded with olive

Eretmochelys imbricata - Hawksbill Sea Turtle

78-89cm in length

Scutes on top of shell overlap one another

4 pleurals on each side of the carapace, first not touching the cervical

2 pairs of prefrontals between the eyes

Carapace brown, often with amber, brown and black

Lepidochelys kempii - Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle

58-70cm in length

Carapace is olive-green, plastron is yellow

Almost circular shell

5 pleurals on each side of the carapace, first is touching the cervical

4 scutes on bridge (rarely will have 5)

Dermochelys coriacea - Leatherback Sea Turtle

135-178cm in length

Skin color ranges from black to dark blue

Turtles' shell is covered by a smooth, leathery skin

7 longitudinal ridges on carapace

Very large flippers

Alligator mississippiensis - American Alligator

1.8-5m in length

Adults blackish brown or dark grey

Juveniles may have yellow crossbands

Only crocodilian in NC

Laterally compressed tail

Broad snout

It's a f*cking Alligator