Nebraska Herpetofaunal Atlas

REPTILIA (Reptiles) TESTUDINES (Turtles) EMYDIDAE (Box and Basking Turtles)

Ornate Box Turtle
Terrapene ornata (Agassiz 1857)
tĕr-ŭh-pē-nē — ŏr-nā-tă

Conservation Status:
State: None
Federal: None
NatureServe State: S5 - Secure
NatureServe National: N5 - Secure
NatureServe Global: G5 - Secure
CITES: None

Diagnosis:
The Ornate Box Turtle is Nebraska’s only native terrestrial turtle. A small turtle, it can be recognized easily by its intricate carapace and plastron pattern with bright yellow lines radiating on a brown to black background. The plastron has a single hinge that allows the turtle to withdraw its body almost completely into its shell for protection. Yellow stripes may be present on the tail and stripes or spots may occur on the legs, neck, and head. The sexually dimorphic males usually have eyes with red irises, while females have maroon, yellow, or green. Males may also have more brightly colored red markings on the forelimbs but not always. Size is rarely larger than 6.0 inches (15.2 cm).

Distribution:
Ornate Box Turtles range throughout the Great Plains region from extreme southern South Dakota through Texas and west into southeastern Arizona. To the east they extend through most of Missouri and southern Illinois, parts of Indiana and Arkansas, and along the Mississippi River of eastern Iowa, western Wisconsin, and Illinois. In Nebraska they can be found statewide except for northeastern counties. Their densities are greatest in the Sand Hills and the southwestern counties.
(, Museum Voucher) (, Observation) (, Literature Record) (, iNat Record), ( Fossil)
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Occurrence Summary:
845
Records
844
Museum Vouchers
1
Other Observations

Some county occurrences indicated below may be too imprecise to map above.
County Breakdown: County Name (# occurrences):
Antelope (1); Arthur (9); Banner (14); Blaine (8); Box Butte (4); Boyd (5); Brown (50); Buffalo (7); Cass (1); Cedar (1); Chase (18); Cherry (264); Cuming (1); Custer (17); Dawes (4); Dawson (8); Deuel (1); Douglas (1); Dundy (37); Franklin (1); Frontier (1); Furnas (3); Gage (2); Garden (46); Garfield (23); Grant (13); Greeley (1); Hall (2); Hamilton (1); Harlan (1); Hayes (6); Hitchcock (11); Holt (14); Hooker (2); Howard (1); Jefferson (10); Kearney (5); Keith (17); Keya Paha (5); Lancaster (5); Lincoln (56); Logan (12); Loup (10); Madison (2); McPherson (2); Merrick (2); Mills (2); Morill (2); Morrill (9); Nance (2); Nemaha (1); Pawnee (1); Perkins (3); Phelps (1); Platte (1); Red Willow (7); Rock (15); Scotts Bluff (23); Sheridan (18); Thayer (2); Thomas (35); Unknown (9); Valley (3); Webster (4); Wheeler (1); York (1);

Natural History:
At northern extremes of their range, Ornate Box Turtles are active from April through October. In warmer regions they may be active throughout most of the year. They feed daily and forage several times throughout the day. When temperatures become extreme they find shelter until favorable conditions return. The greatest amount of activity seems to be associated with rainfall. Ornate Box Turtles are often found on sand and gravel roads shortly after rain storms. They are omnivorous and eat succulent plants, arthropods, worms, small vertebrates, and even carrion. However, their primary prey is dung beetles. Breeding occurs in May and can continue through September. Females may lay eggs during the summer or may retain sperm and lay eggs the following season. As with most long-lived species, sexual maturity is not reached until later in life – usually around age ten. This is a grassland turtle occupying short, mixed, and tallgrass prairies throughout its range. Although it is more common in areas with sandy soils, it also uses grasslands with loamy soil and even areas with dense limestone layers just beneath the surface. In Nebraska it is most commonly encountered in the short and mixed grass prairies in the western part of the state as well as the Sandhills. It can be found in some of the eastern counties, but it is rare with conversion of tallgrass prairies to row-crop agricultural fields.

Occurrence Activity:

Remarks:
Ornate Box Turtles are protected from commercial collection in Nebraska.

Bibliography:

Account Last Updated:
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