Terrapene

North American box turtles are land turtles of the genus Terrapene. Although box turtles are superficially similar to tortoises in terrestrial habits and overall appearance, they are actually members of the American pond turtle family (Emydidae). The 12 taxa which are distinguished in the genus are distributed over seven species. They are largely characterized by having a domed shell which is hinged at the bottom, allowing the animal to retract its head and legs and close its shell tightly to protect itself from predators.

Terrapene

“Jonathan Zander ( Digon3 )" · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
box turtlePBDB
Sits inside
EmydidaePBDB
Diet
omnivorePBDB
Life habit
ground dwelling, solitaryPBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB

Time the record covers

At least 41 million years on record.

The record covers at least 41.03 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 48.07 Mya to 0 Mya.

Eocene — about 1 of 74 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 0 of 74 occurrencesMiocene — about 12 of 74 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 3 of 74 occurrencesPleistocene — about 54 of 74 occurrences49–47 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences47–46 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences46–44 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences44–42 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences42–41 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences25–23 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences23–21 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences20–18 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences18–16 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 1 occurrence15–13 Mya — about 1 occurrence13–11 Mya — about 2 occurrences11–9.8 Mya — about 2 occurrences9.8–8.2 Mya — about 2 occurrences8.2–6.5 Mya — about 2 occurrences6.5–4.9 Mya — about 2 occurrences4.9–3.3 Mya — about 2 occurrences3.3–1.6 Mya — about 5 occurrences1.6–0 Mya — about 55 occurrences41.03 Mya11.7 ka49 Mya0 Mya

74 occurrences of Terrapene on record, most of them in the Pleistocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

74 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

16 formations

Valentine — 40.02°N, 98.53°WValentine — 42.81°N, 100.05°WValentine — 42.80°N, 100.80°WKingsdown — 37.20°N, 100.30°WOgallala — 39.08°N, 99.75°WOgallala — 35.79°N, 99.61°WWicomico — 29.42°N, 82.22°WWicomico — 29.60°N, 82.42°WBermont — 27.70°N, 82.50°WTamiami — 27.78°N, 82.68°WAlachua — 29.55°N, 82.52°WPalomas — 33.10°N, 107.30°WFort Thompson — 27.80°N, 82.80°WSilver Bluff — 32.56°N, 80.29°WShuler — 32.71°N, 96.71°WRexroad — 36.93°N, 100.27°WStatenville — 30.40°N, 83.00°WGrès d'Aigne — 43.30°N, 2.70°EOcala — 29.14°N, 82.21°WGoliad — 28.60°N, 97.70°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Terrapene has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 53 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Terrapene and its relatives

Pleistocene

Where Terrapene and its relatives were recorded in the Pleistocene.

Found in the same rock

1,331 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 65 sites for Terrapene, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

59 references

Each of the 74 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 47 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Terrapene

Credit
“Jonathan Zander ( Digon3 )"
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
In Copyright
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Terrapene ornata · MVZ:Herp:MVZ:Herp:250709

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itEmydidae through timeFormations of the PleistoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Merrem 1820