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Reptilia    Testudines    Emydidae  

Blanding's Turtle
Emydoidea blandingii (Holbrook, 1838)

Current SSAR Comments:
Distinct genetic units have been identified in Canada (Davy et al., 2014, Canadian Journal of Zoology 92: 149–162), the midwestern USA (Sethuraman et al., 2014, Conservation Genetics 15: 61–73), and New York (McCluskey et al., 2016, Journal of Herpetology 50: 7–76). None of these studies made any taxonomic recommendations. Rhodin et al. (2021, Chelonian Research Monographs (8): 1–472) recommended additional range-wide studies of this genetically diverse taxon.

Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2023.04.08.20.59.19)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 1.05 MB

First instance(s) of published English names:
Blanding's Cistuda (Cistuda blandingii: Storer, D. H. 1839. Reports on the Ichthyology and Herpetology of Massachusetts. Reports on the Fishes, Reptiles and Birds of Massachusetts. Published Agreeably to an Order of the Legislature, by the Commissioners on the Zoological and Botanical Survey of the State. Dutton and Wentworth, State Printers, Boston, Massachusetts. pp.); Blanding's Box Tortoise (Cistuda blandingii: De Kay, James E. 1842. Zoology of New-York, or, The New-York Fauna: Comprising Detailed Descriptions of All the Animals Hitherto Observed within the State of New-York, with Brief Notices of those Occasionally Found Near its Borders, and Accompanied by Appropriate Illustrations. Volume 1, Part 3 (Reptiles and Amphibians). W. & A. White & J. Visscher, Albany, New York. pp.); Blanding's Tortoise (Emys meleagris: Jordan, David Starr. 1876. Manual of the Vertebrates of the Northern United States: Including the District East of the Mississippi River, and North of North Carolina and Tennessee, Exclusive of Marine Species. Jansen, McClurg, and Company, Chicago, Illinois.. 342pp.); Box Tortoise (Cistuda carolina: Hay, Oliver P. 1892. Batrachians and Reptiles of the State of Indiana. Pages 409-624 in 17th Annual Report of the Indiana Department of Geology and Natural Resources, William B. Burford, Printer and Binder, Indianapolis, Indiana. pp.); Blanding's Turtle (Emydoidea blandingii: Hay, Oliver P. 1892. Batrachians and Reptiles of the State of Indiana. Pages 409-624 in 17th Annual Report of the Indiana Department of Geology and Natural Resources, William B. Burford, Printer and Binder, Indianapolis, Indiana. pp.); Speckled Turtle (Emys blandingii: Drowne, Frederick P. 1905. The reptiles and batrachians of Rhode Island. Monograph of the Roger Williams Park Museum 15():1-24); Blandings Tortoise (Emys blandingii: Drowne, Frederick P. 1905. The reptiles and batrachians of Rhode Island. Monograph of the Roger Williams Park Museum 15():1-24); Blanding's Turtle (Emys blandingii: Stejneger, Leonard and Thomas Barbour. 1917. A Checklist of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts. pp.); Semibox Turtle (Emys blandingi: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Blanding's Turtle (Emys blandingi: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.);

Taxon Links:

  
Catalog of American Amphibians and Reptiles
  
The Reptile Database
  
NatureServe
  
iNaturalist
  
GenBank
  
USGS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database

Pertinent LIterature:
1838 Holbrook, John E. North American Herpetology; or, a Description of the Reptiles Inhabiting the United States. Volume 3. J. Dobson, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 122pp.
2014 Sethuraman, A., S. E. McGaugh, M. L. Becker, C. H. Chandler, J. L. Chrisiansen, S. Hayden, A. LeClere, J. Monson-Miller, E. M. Myers, R. T. Paitz, J. M. Refsnider, T. J. VanDeWalle, F. J. Janzen. Population genetics of Blanding's Turtle (Emys blandingii) in the midwestern United States. Conservation Genetics 15():61-73
2014 Davy, Christina M. and Robert W. Murphy. Conservation genetics of the endangered Spotted Turtle (Clemmys guttata) illustrate the risks of "bottleneck tests". Canadian Journal of Zoology 92():149-162
2016 McCluskey, E. M., S. W. Mockford, K. Sands, T. B. Herman, G. Johnson, and R. A. Gonser. Population genetic structure of Blanding's Turtles (Emydoidea blandingii) in New York. Journal of Herpetology 50():7-76
2021 Rhodin, Anders G. J., John B. Iverson, Roger Bour, Uwe Fritz, Arthur Georges, H. Bradley Shaffer, and Peter Paul van Dijk. Turtles and tortoises of the world during the rise and global spread of humanity: First checklist and review of extinct pleistocene and holocene chelonians. Chelonian Research Monographs (8):1-472

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Thursday 30 January 2025 01:56 CT