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This site was created by students in the herpetology class at Towson University. Site last updated: 05/21/07.
Acknowledgements: Herb Harris - Range Maps; Mark Tegges - Photography; Dan Lapascha & Gigi Forester - TU Herpetology Logo
Wood turtle
(Glyptemys insculpta)
Description
The wood turtle has a carapace that is highly sculptured and keeled due to the presence of well-defined growth lines (annuli) on each scute. The scutes are often raised centrally, giving them a pyramidal appearance. The plastron is yellow and has black blotches on the outside edge of each scute. The Wood Turtle is also called “redleg” because of its orange-colored neck and limbs. Males are usually larger than females and their carapace is typically higher and more domed than those of females. They are medium-sized turtles, and adults are usually 14 - 20 cm (5˝ - 8 in.) long. Wood Turtles are omnivorous and can feed both on land and underwater. They are active from March or April until October or November.
Habitat
Wood turtles use both aquatic and terrestrial habitats, but they seem to have preference for clear, moving water with gravel or hard packed bottoms and use terrestrial habitats only opportunistically and usually near water. Males tend to spend more time in aquatic habitats where they can mate, while females will spend more time on land for nesting. Both males and females spend more time in water during the spring and fall peak mating seasons.
Breeding
The wood turtle generally breeds between May and July, though the nesting season varies by geographic location. It may take as many as 20 years before wood turtles become sexually mature. Once mature, females lay a single clutch of 5 - 18 eggs per year in nests that are usually built on loose, well-drained soils with scant vegetation that are well-exposed to the sun. The young are typically 2.8 – 4.1 cm (1⅛ - 1⅝ in.) at hatching. Unlike many similar species, the wood turtle does not demonstrate temperature-dependent sex determination.
Distribution in Maryland
Range map adapted from Harris, 1975.
Links
http://www.woodturtle.com/index.html
http://community.middlebury.edu/~herpatlas/spp_pages/sppG-insculpta.php
http://herpcenter.ipfw.edu/outreach/accounts/reptiles/turtles/Wood_turtle/WoodTurtleFactSheet.pdf