Distribution and habitat Box turtle

distribution of 4 species of terrapene

box turtles native north america. widest distributed species common box turtle found in united states (subspecies carolina, major, bauri, triunguis; south-central, eastern, , southeastern parts) , mexico (subspecies yukatana , mexicana; yucatán peninsula , northeastern parts). ornate box turtle endemic south-central , southwestern parts of u.s. (and adjacent mexico) while spotted box turtle endemic northwestern mexico only. coahuilan box turtle found in cuatro ciénegas basin (coahuila, mexico).

habitat

because box turtles occupy wide variety of habitats (which both vary on day-to-day, season-to-season, species-to-species basis), standard box turtle habitat can not identified. mesic woodlands habitat box turtles found. t. ornata species regularly found in grasslands, subspecies desert box turtle found in semidesert rainfall predominantly in summer. single location coahuilan box turtles found 360 km region characterized marshes, permanent presence of water , several types of cacti.

prior hibernation, box turtles tend move further woods, dig chamber overwintering. ornate box turtles dig chambers 50 centimeters, while eastern box turtles hibernate @ depth of 10 centimeters. location overwintering can 0.5 km summer habitat , in close proximity of previous year. in more southern locations, turtles active year-round, has been observed t. coahuila , t.c.major . other box turtles in higher temperatures more active (t.c.yukatana) or active during wet seasons.

evolution

box turtles appeared abruptly in fossil record, in modern form . absence of strong changes in morphology might indicate generalist species. therefore complicated establish how evolution other turtles took place. oldest finds of fossilized box turtles found in nebraska (u.s.), date 15 million years before present (in miocene) , resemble aquatic species t. coahuila most, indicates common ancestor aquatic species. fossilized specimens of t. ornata , t. carolina dated circa 5 million years before present , indicated main lineages diverged within miocene. recognized extinct subspecies (t.c. putnami) dates pliocene , was, carapace length of 30 cm (12 in), larger other species.