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Peninsula Terrapin
- Colouration
- Carapace olive, with numerous yellow and irregular yellow bands and blotches. A black blotch in each marginal shield, above and beneath. Plastron yellow, clouded with brown in the central portion.
- Dimensions
- Reaches a length of 12 inches.
- Distribution
- Southern portion of the peninsula of Lower California.
- Distribution
- Mississippi Valley and western portions of Atlantic states.
- Distribution
- Mississippi Valley.
- Distribution
- Lower Mississippi Valley.
- Distribution
- Taken only on the Alabama River.
- Distribution
- Lower Mississippi Valley.
- Distribution
- Salt marshes of the Atlantic coast and Gulf of Mexico.
Allied to a Mexican and Central American species--C. ornata. The shell is of moderate height, bluntly keeled and rugose on the sides.
Head dark brown, marked with fine, wavy lines on the top; a broad band from beneath the eye to the throat; a yellow blotch on each temple, continued backward on the neck as a narrow band.
The Genus Malacoclemmys: The six species comprising this genus are of large size--from 8 to 12 inches in length. Excluding one species, which has a very rough shell--the Diamond-back Terrapin--these turtles exhibit a strong similarity to the species of the preceding genus, and like them, are sold in great numbers in the markets as "Slider" terrapin, with the exception of the "Diamond-back." That species is the choice, over all other terrapin, by the epicures, and brings four or five times the price of species that are included within the genus to which it belongs, though the former may considerably exceed it in size.
The species of this genus are characterised, among the terrapin, by the strong keel upon the carapace--this usually protruding so abruptly from the shell as to produce a bluntly serrated margin to the curve of the back. The species have very large and extensively webbed hind feet. The claws of the front feet do not exhibit the extensive development to be noted with the species of the preceding genus.
From Chrysemys, this genus is technically separated by the structure, in the latter, of the inner margin of the jaws, which, immediately within the sharp edge of the mandibles, are provided with very broad and flat crushing surfaces. Upon an examination of these crushing surfaces, theory would point to a food consisting of molluscs. Such is actually the case. Most of these turtles have been found to feed largely upon small species of snails.
Male and female specimens differ considerably in size, the females being much larger and with proportionately larger heads than the males.
The tail of male speciments is long and thick, proportionately longer than with any species of Chrysemys.
Following is a key to the species of Malacoclemmys:
Shell broad and flat with all the species; not globular: rising to rather a sharp apex which is surmounted by a broken keel, represented by high, ridge-like' nodules.
a. Shell smooth, with a dull lustre.
*Keel moderately developed, not rising in the form of tubercles.
Olive, sometimes with black blotches.
A net-work of fine, yellow lines.
GEOGRAPHIC TERRAPIN, M. geographica
**Keel rising in the form of tubercles, giving line of back a serrated appearance.
Olive, with large, round, black blotches.
No yellow net-work. Head with narrow, yellow lines and a wider, yellow crescent behind eye.
LESUEUR'S TERRAPIN, M. lesueurii.
Carapace like preceding. A large yellow spot behind eye. A narrow line from above eye; shorter lines beneath. KOHN'S TERRAPIN, M. kohnii.
Pale, olive; no large blotches; marginal shields marked with yellow. Space between the eyes with a broad, yellow figure, splitting into bands behind the eyes. BAUR'S TERRAPIN, M. pulchra.
Olive; each of the shields enclose a yellow ring bordered inside and outside with dark brown. A yellow spot behind eye and two yellow stripes to the neck. OCCELLATED TERRAPIN, M. oculifera.
b. Shell rough, the shields enclosing raised, concentric areas.
Dull brownish or olive. Head pale gray with black dots. DIAMOND-BACK TERRAPIN, M. palustris.
Detailed descriptions of these species follow: