North American Tortoise Species

There are four main groups of reptiles, known as Crocodilians, Squamates, Tuataras, and Turtles. Crocodilians consists of large reptiles which includes alligators, crocodiles, gharials, and caimans. Squamates are lizards, snakes, and worm-lizards. A worm-lizard is a subterranean burrowing reptile that resembles an earthworm, a legless lizard. Tuataras are a group of reptiles that are lizard-like in appearance but are different from squamates because their skull isn’t jointed. Turtles are the most ancient reptiles alive today. They have changed very little since they first showed up 220 million years ago. The first turtle appeared 220 million years ago.(Laura Klappenbach)

How many people can say that they have a pet that has been around, in some form or other, for 300 million years? Reptiles are fascinating animals that have been around since the Carboniferous Period, 300 million years ago. Many different species of reptiles have come and gone over the course of time and there are five main groups. Turtles and tortoises are distinguished by the presence of their carapace, or shells, which is also their main defense against predators. Lizards are the most diverse and varied among the reptiles with many different types from chameleons, to iguanas, to geckos, to monitor lizards which includes the largest of all lizards; the Komodo dragon. Tuataras are the most ancient of reptiles and can be found exclusively

The leatherback sea turtle, Dermochelys coriacea, belong in the phylum of Chordate, class of reptilian, order of Testudines, and the family of Dermochelyidae. These reptiles can be found throughout the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans. Leatherback sea turtles are the largest turtles in the world. The average life expectancy of a leatherback turtle is forty-five years. Average size of the turtles upper shell, carapace, is about five feet and has a rubber-like texture feel to it consisting mainly of oil-saturated connective tissue. On average Dermochelys coriacea can weigh any where from approximately six hundred to two thousand pounds. In length these turtles are typically fifty-five to seventy-nine inches. The lack of claws is another distinguishing

The threatened bog turtle is a very small turtle, averaging 3.1 to 4.5 inches in length (USFWS 2015z) and it is characterized by a light brown to ebony shell and bright yellow, orange, or red blotches on each side of the head (USFWS 2001). The FWS proposed a final rule in 1997 to list the northern population of the bog turtle as threatened and southern population as threatened due to similarity of appearance, under provisions of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (62 FR 59605 59623, November 4, 1997). Regionally the northern population of the bog turtle is known to occur in localized distributions from western Massachusetts and Connecticut southward to Maryland, and the southern population is known to occur from Virginia southward to Georgia (USFWS 2001). In New York it is known to occur in 15 counties in the southeastern region of the state or along the south coast of Lake Ontario (USFWS

A decline in loggerhead populations due to temperature increases will have a large ecological effect as loggerhead turtles play important ecological roles such as maintaining food webs, cycling nutrients, and modifying habitat (Wilson et al. 2010 and Bjorndal 2003). Loggerhead turtles physically support many marine species. Loggerheads support the largest and most diverse amounts of epibionts of any marine turtle species. There are many epibionic species that are endemic to sea turtles and sea turtles maintain biodiversity in epibiont communities. A period of five to ten years may have minimal impacts on epibiont communities; however, a fifty year period may see enough loggerhead population declines that epibiont species are at risk

The Graptemys caglei, also known as the Cagle’s Map Turtle, is an endangered turtle species found in San Antonio, Texas and along the Guadalupe River. It identifies easily by the pattern on its shell which resembles an aerial view topography, as well as its spiked shell edges, which are not as sharp as other map turtles of the same genus. Although the Cagle’s Map Turtle has natural predators pose a threat to the individual turtles’ lives, the predators are not a greater threat than habitat disturbances created by humans. Unfortunately, this species suffered a significant drop in population since the mid-1970 through changes in its habitat disallow support of a larger population of the turtles(van Dijk, P. P., 2011).

The Allegheny woodrat (Neotoma magister) is a small mammal that is endemic to the United States. They live in the eastern part of the United States in deciduous forests. Their species can be found from the Appalachian Mountains through the interior Highland regions, including western Connecticut to northern Alabama (Castleberry et al 2006). Woodrats are restricted to areas that have rocky structures such as caves, fissures, and boulder piles and live within the spaces between rocks (Castleberry et al. 2006). Rocky habitats are good living spaces for them because the crevices provide protection from predators and also create a den environment for young to develop. Since rocky areas are usually distributed in patches throughout an environment, woodrats are considered to be metapopulations because their populations are separated (Castleberry et al. 2002). Other animals that can be found using the same rocky habitats for denning, roosting, or nesting include the Rafinesque 's big-eared bat (Corynorhinus rafinesquii), Townsend 's big-eared bat (C. townsendii), common raven (Corvus corax), long-tailed weasel (Mustela frenata), eastern small-footed myotis (Myotis leibii), eastern spotted skunk (Spilogale putorius), and American black bear (Ursus americanus) (Castleberry et al. 2006). The different types of species that live in the community creates competition and leaves woodrat populations vulnerable. Competition and predators are examples of factors that

The Texas horned lizard, Phrynosoma cornutum, is a species in the lizard family, Phrynosomatidae, which has ten genera and a diverse group of over 125 different species (Hammerson 2007; Cossel Jr. 1997). Lizards in this family can be found in Mexico, Panama, most areas of the United States and parts of Canada (Heying 2003). Phrynosomatids range in a variety of forms, but are most commonly distinguished by their small size (less than 10 cm long), rough and keeled scales, spikes on their bodies, and the fusion of the sides of their teeth to the sides of their inner jawbones, known as pleurodont teeth (Heying 2003). The thirteen species in the horned lizard genus, Phrynosoma, can be identified more specifically by their flattened bodies

This prairie subspecies of T. ornata, known as the ornate box turtle, inhabits open, treeless, sandy plains and grasslands with sparse scrub-brush vegetation while occasionally entering forested areas primarily in search of water (Ornate box turtle). T. o. ornata...

To reduce burrowing, place hide boxes to provide shelter in extreme temperature conditions. Sometimes they will burrow so that they can warm themselves. Additionally, include a grassy area where the small tortoise can go to whenever they want to cool themselves.

The Green turtle lives in the ocean and mainly stays near the coastline around islands and

By comparing the observed heterozygosity of two Blanding’s turtle populations, it was determined that Area 1 had significantly greater observed heterozygosity than Area 2. The lower observed heterozygosity found in Area 2 may have been caused by the founder effect, resulting in a loss of genetic variation. The founder effect occurs when a new population is established by a small group of migrants from a larger population. The founder effect involves a random sampling of alleles during the reproduction of consecutive generations; when a small population is isolated, it may amplify the loss of genetic variation as individuals may become increasingly genotypically similar after each subsequent generation. Eventually, the alleles may become fixed

C. carbonaria (the Red-footed tortoise), C. chilensis (the Chaco tortoise), C. denticulata (the Yellow-footed tortoise), and C. nigra (the Galápagos tortoise) comprise the genus Chelonoidis. According to DNA analysis, the closest living relative of the Chaco tortoise is the Galápagos tortoise.

The camas pocket gopher (Thomomys bulbivorus) is a rodent native to the Willamette Valley of northwestern Oregon in the United States. The herbivorous mammal collects its food in large, fur-lined, external cheek pouches, then hoards any surplus in underground tunnels. The coat, dull brown to lead gray, changes color and texture over the year. The gophers' large, protuberant incisors are well adapted for use in tunnel construction, particularly in the hard clay soils of the Willamette Valley. They make chattering sounds with their teeth; males and females make purring (or crooning) sounds when they are together, and the young make twittering sounds. Born toothless, blind and hairless, the young grow rapidly before being weaned at about six weeks

While on the Galápagos Islands, Darwin kept notebooks about all the species there, and he noticed the variety of tortoises on the island who were essential in explaining his theory of evolution. There are several species of tortoise present on the Galápagos Islands that are all very closely related, but slightly different. There are eleven presently surviving subspecies of Galápagos tortoises; furthermore, six of the eleven are found on different islands in the archipelago, and the other five are all found on a single island on five separate volcanoes with their own mini-ecosystems (PNAS). Although all of the species of Galápagos tortoise is different, they each have small differences that can include maximum adult size, shell shape, and the length of the neck and limbs. The tortoises of the islands are most closely related to the Chaco tortoises along the western coast of South America, and they most likely came to the Galápagos by “rafting” across the water (PNAS). Similar to the tortoises, Darwin observed that the Finches on the islands also had changed to match the environment. Spread among the islands were fourteen subspecies of finch whose