The semiaquatic Northern Map Turtle is characterized by a short tail, a rigid upper and lower shell, an upper shell with a roughly jagged rear edge, a small yellow spot behind each eye, and dark-colored seams between the large scutes on the lower shell. The upper shell is dull olive-gray with yellowish lines and circles. The lower shell is gray and lacks a pattern, but the seams between each scute are darker than the lower shell color. The head, limbs, and tail are olive or brownish with yellow stripes. Males have longer tails than females. Females have broader heads and reach a much larger size than males.
Adults are normally 90-253 mm (3½-10 inches) in carapace length. The largest specimen from Kansas is a female (KU Color Slide 8872) from Osage County with a carapace length of 226 mm (87⁄8 inches) collected by Lenn Shipman and Warren Voorhees on 3 July 1990. The maximum carapace length throughout the range is 269.9 mm (105⁄8 inches) (Powell et al., 2016).
The Northern Map turtle is known from the Marais des Cygnes, Verdigris, and Caney drainage systems in eastern Kansas. This species inhabits slow-moving stretches and backwaters of rivers, streams, and lakes.
Additional records (both from 1911) exist for Montgomery (KU 3267) and Wilson (KU 3285) but are too imprecise to plot. These records are mapped in Collins (1993).
David Edds and his students at Emporia State University studied this species in Kansas (Edds et al., 1990; Edds, 1991), and much of the information known about this turtle in Kansas is based on their work.
This species prefers slow-moving or still bodies of water ranging in size from small stream to rivers, including river oxbows and lakes. Clarke (1953) found a specimen •in a small stream in Osage County. Edds (1991) reported ten of these turtles in streams 15 to 60 feet wide with shorelines shaded by trees; little vegetation and few basking sites were evident.
The Northern Map Turtle is probably active from April to October; it has definitely been documented in Kansas from 24 June to 6 October. It becomes less active during the winter but may not actually burrow in the mud as do some of the other semiaquatic turtles.
Northern Map Turtles spend most of the day basking and sleeping in the sun on logs or other suitable perches, evidently foraging for food at twilight and after dark. They are gregarious, congregating in large numbers at optimal sites, and are extremely wary when approached.
This shy turtle may mate twice each season but generally initiates breeding in the spring. Nothing is known of courtship in this species in Kansas. Females dig nests from May to July along the water's edge in soft soil or sand but normally not on beaches. Each female lays from 10- 16 elongate dull white eggs. If they are laid in early spring, hatching will occur in early fall. Eggs laid during the summer or fall may not hatch until the following spring.
The Northern Map Turtle feeds on crayfishes and freshwater mussels but apparently does not prey on fishes (Collins, 1993).
First reported from Kansas by Cragin (1880) from specimens observed around Ottawa, Franklin County. Though Burt (1933) mentioned "A small turtle (K.S.C. 374), which apparently belongs to this
species, was secured near Manhattan, Riley County, by J. B.
Norton, in July, 1897.", this specimen is more likely Graptemys ouachitensis/pseudogeographica. The oldest extant specimens known from Kansas were all collected in 1911 are from Montgomery County (KU 3267; Verdigris River; July), Franklin County (KU 3225, 3265; Marais des Cygnes River, Ottawa, Franklin County), and Wilson County (KU 3285; no other locality data).
Formerly considered extirpated in Kansas (Capron, 1985). Edds (1990, 1991) discovered six new localities in the Marais des Cygnes drainage. The Northern Map Turtle is shy and retiring, usually avoiding the main stem of Kansas' larger rivers, in favor of smaller tributaries with denser canopies.
Recent observations from Chautauqua and Wilson counties help corroborate specimens from the Verdigris River drainage mapped by Collins (1993). Voucher specimens are desirable from this area, should they ever become available.
There is little evidence to suggest that populations have changed much over the past 50 years. However, because it is known from so few localities, those sites should be monitored regularly and new sites should be surveyed.
Two recent observations in Johnson County along Wolf Creek and the Blue River (~2 miles apart) warrant further investigation.
Listed as a Kansas Threatened species in 1993. No recovery plan exists for this species. Edds (1991) recommended this species be designated endangered in Kansas because of water pollution, habitat destruction, and a decline in the state's freshwater mussel populations.
As defined by Kansas Administrative Regulations, critical habitats include those areas documented as currently supporting self-sustaining population(s) of any threatened or endangered species of wildlife as well as those areas determined by the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks, and Tourism to be essential for the conservation of any threatened or endangered species of wildlife
Currently, the following areas are designated critical for Northern Map Turtles:
(1) The main stem of the Marmaton River from Moran, Allen County (Sec. 36-T24S-R20E) to the Kansas/Missouri border in Bourbon County (Sec. 24-T25S-R25E).
(2) The main stem of Cedar Creek in Anderson County from its point of entry into Sec. 1-T22S-R18E to its confluence with Pottawatomie Creek (Sec. 1-T20S-R19E).
(3) The main stem of the South Fork of Pottawatomie Creek in Anderson County from its point of entry into Sec. 27-T21S-R20E to the confluence with Pottawatomie Creek (Sec. 24- T19S-R20E).
(4) The main stem of the West Fork of Tauy Creek in Franklin County from the Douglas/Franklin County border (Sec. 23-T15S-R19E) to the confluence with Ottawa Creek (Sec. 28-T16S-R20E).
(5) The main stem of Ottawa Creek in Franklin County from the confluence of the West Fork of Tauy Creek (Sec. 23-T15S-R19E) to the confluence with the Marais des Cygnes River (Sec. 11-T17S-R20E).
(6) The main stem of Long Creek in Osage County from the Osage/Coffey County border (Sec. 36-T18S-R15E) to the confluence of the Marais des Cygnes River (Sec. 2-T18S-R16E).
(7) The main stem of Frog Creek in Osage County from the Osage/Coffey County border (Sec. 34-T18S-R15E) to the confluence with Long Creek (Sec. 30-T18S-R16E).
(8) The main stem of the Little Osage River in Bourbon County from the Bourbon/Allen County border (Sec. 36-T23S-R21E) to the Kansas/Missouri border (Sec. 1-T24S-R25E).
(9) The main stem of Appanoose Creek in Franklin County from the Osage/Franklin border (Sec. 23-T15S-R17E) to the confluence with the Marais des Cygnes River (Sec. 32-T16S-R19E).
Based on a captive specimen, Snider and Bowler (1992) reported a maximum longevity for this turtle of eighteen years and 21 days.
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