THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY


Reptilia    Testudines    Emydidae  

Eastern Box Turtle
Terrapene carolina (Linnaeus, 1758)

Current SSAR Comments:
The carolina group of North American Box Turtles has received considerable recent taxonomic attention, with some improved resolution. Vitek (2018, PLoS One 13: e0193437) examined the morphometrics in the groups, including fossil forms and found considerable overlap among Terrapene carolina (including T. c. major), T. bauri, and T. triunguis such that differences among the taxa were not diagnosable. Martin et al. (2020, Molecular Ecology 29: 4186–4202) and Martin et al. (2021, Molecular Ecology Resources 21: 2801–2817) bolstered their prior work by further refining phylogenetic relationships at taxonomic boundaries. Rhodin (2021, Chelonian Research Monographs (8): 1–472) recognized T. baurii, T. mexicana (extralimital), T. triunguis, and T. yucatana (extralimital) as separate species and retained T. c. major as a subspecies.

Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2023.12.13.09.07.07)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 0.91 MB

First instance(s) of published English names:
Chequered Tortoise (Testudo carolina: Forster, John R. 1771. A systematic catalogue of all the known plants of English North-America or, a flora Americae Septentrionalis. Pages in From Forster's translation of Bossu, Travels through that part of North America formerly called Louisiana, Vol. 1. T. Davies, London, England. pp.); Land Tortoise (Testudo carolina: Pennant, Thomas. 1785. Artic Zoology. Henry Hughs, London. pp.); Chequered Tortoise (Testudo carolina: Pennant, Thomas. 1785. Artic Zoology. Henry Hughs, London. pp.); Speckled Land Tortoise (Testudo carolina: Morse, Jedidiah. 1794. The American Geography of, a view of the Present Situation of the United State of America. John Stockdale, Piccadilly, London. pp.); Close Tortoise (Testudo clausa: Shaw, George. 1802. General zoology or systematic natural history. Volume 3. G. Kearsley, London, U. K.. 615pp.); American Box Terrapin (Emys carolinae: Gray, John E. 1830. A synopsis of the species of the class reptilia. Pages 1-110 in The Animal Kingdom Arranged in Conformity with its Organization by the Baron Cuvier, member of teh Institute of France, with Additional Descriptions of all the Species Hitherto Named, and of many not before noticed. Ninth Volume. Whittaker, Treacher, and Company, London, England. pp.); White Spotted Terrapin (Emys kinosternoides: Gray, John E. 1830. A synopsis of the species of the class reptilia. Pages 1-110 in The Animal Kingdom Arranged in Conformity with its Organization by the Baron Cuvier, member of teh Institute of France, with Additional Descriptions of all the Species Hitherto Named, and of many not before noticed. Ninth Volume. Whittaker, Treacher, and Company, London, England. pp.); Box Tortoise (Cistuda carolina: 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.); Land Turtle (Cistuda carolina: 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.); Lock Tortoise (Cistuda carolina: 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.); Common Box Tortoise (Cistuda carolina: 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.); Box Tortoise (Cistudo carolina: Gray, John E. 1856. Catalogue of shield reptiles in the collection of the British Museum. Part I. Testudinata (Tortoises). Taylor and Francis, London, England. 79pp.); Sharp-chested Emys (Emys kinosternoides: Royal College of Surgeons of England. 1859. Descriptive catalogue of the specimens of natural history in spirit contained in the Museum of the Royal college of surgeons of England. Vertebrata: Pisces, Reptilia, Aves, Mammalia. Taylor and Francis, London, England. pp.); Box Turtle (Cistudo virginea: Allen, J. A. 1869. Catalogue of the reptiles and batrachians found in the vicinity of Springfield, Mass., with notices of all the other species known to inhabit the state. Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural Hisotry 12(1868-1869):171-204); Common Box Turtle (Cistudo clausa: 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 (Cistudo clausa clausa: Yarrow, Henry C. 1876. List of Skeletons and Crania in the Section of Comparative Anatomy of the United States Army Medical Museum for use during the International Exhibition of 1876 in Connection with the Representation of the Medical Department U.S. Army. Army Medical Museum, Washington, D. C. pp.); Common Land Turtle (Cistudo clausa clausa: Yarrow, Henry C. 1876. List of Skeletons and Crania in the Section of Comparative Anatomy of the United States Army Medical Museum for use during the International Exhibition of 1876 in Connection with the Representation of the Medical Department U.S. Army. Army Medical Museum, Washington, D. C. pp.); Common Box Turtle (Cistudo clausa: Jordan, David S. 1878. 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. Second Edition, Revised, and Enlarged. Jansen, McClurg & Company, Chicago. pp.); Box Turtle (Cistudo clausa: Coues, Elliott and Henry C. Yarrow. 1878. Notes on the natural history of Fort Macon, N. C. and Vicinity (No. 4). Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia 30():21-28); Box Tortoise (Cistudo carolina: Yarrow, Henry C. 1882. Check list of North American Reptilia and Batrachia with catalogue of specimens in U. S. National Museum. Bulletin of the United States National Museum (24):1-249); Land Turtle (Cistudo carolina: Yarrow, Henry C. 1882. Check list of North American Reptilia and Batrachia with catalogue of specimens in U. S. National Museum. Bulletin of the United States National Museum (24):1-249); Box Turtle (Cistudo carolina: Garman, H. 1892. A synopsis of the reptiles and amphibians of Illinois. Illinois Laboratory of Natural History Bulletin 3():215-403); Box Tortoise (Terrapene carolina: Rhoads, Samuel N. 1895. Contributions to the zoology of Tennessee. No. 1, Reptiles and amphibians. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia 47():376-407); Box Turtle (Terrapene major: Beyer, George. 1900. Louisana herpetology. Proceedings of the Louisiana Society of Naturalists 1897-1899():24-46); Tortoise (Didicia carolina: Fowler, Henry W. 1907. The amphibians and reptiles of New Jersey. MacCrellish and Quigley, Trenton, N. J.. 29-250pp.); Land Turtle (Didicia carolina: Fowler, Henry W. 1907. The amphibians and reptiles of New Jersey. MacCrellish and Quigley, Trenton, N. J.. 29-250pp.); Common Box Tortoise (Didicia carolina: Fowler, Henry W. 1907. The amphibians and reptiles of New Jersey. MacCrellish and Quigley, Trenton, N. J.. 29-250pp.); Land Tortoise (Didicia carolina: Fowler, Henry W. 1907. The amphibians and reptiles of New Jersey. MacCrellish and Quigley, Trenton, N. J.. 29-250pp.); Common Box Turtle (Didicia carolina: Fowler, Henry W. 1907. The amphibians and reptiles of New Jersey. MacCrellish and Quigley, Trenton, N. J.. 29-250pp.); Box Tortoise (Didicia carolina: Fowler, Henry W. 1907. The amphibians and reptiles of New Jersey. MacCrellish and Quigley, Trenton, N. J.. 29-250pp.); Turtle (Didicia carolina: Fowler, Henry W. 1907. The amphibians and reptiles of New Jersey. MacCrellish and Quigley, Trenton, N. J.. 29-250pp.); Box Turtle (Didicia carolina: Fowler, Henry W. 1907. The amphibians and reptiles of New Jersey. MacCrellish and Quigley, Trenton, N. J.. 29-250pp.); Carolina Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina: Hurter, Julius. 1911. Herpetology of Missouri. Transactions of the Academy of Science St. Louis 20(5):59-274); Highland Terrapin (Terrapene carolina: Brimley, Clement S. 1915. List of reptiles and amphibians of North Carolina. Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society 30(4):195-206); Box Tortoise (Terrapene carolina: Brimley, Clement S. 1915. List of reptiles and amphibians of North Carolina. Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society 30(4):195-206); Large Box Tortoise (Terrapene major: Strecker, John K. 1922. An annotated catalogue of the amphibians and reptiles of Bexar County, Texas. Bulletin Scientific Society of San Antonio (4):1-31); Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Common Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Common Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Gulf Coast Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina major: 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:
1758 Linné, Carl von (=Linneaus). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. [System of Nature through the three kingdoms of nature, according to classes, orders, genera, species with characters, differences, synonyms, places.] 10th Edition, Volume 1, L. Salvius, Stockholm. iv + 826pp.
1991 Ernst, Carl H. Terrapene carolina. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (512):1-13
2011 Butler, J. M., C. Kenneth Dodd Jr, M. Aresco, and J. D. Austin. Morphological and molecular evidence indicates that the Gulf Coast Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina major) is not a distinct evolutionary lineage in the Florida Panhandle. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 102(4):889-901
2012 Martin, Bradley T. Molecular phylogenetics and phylogeography of the American Box Turtles (Terrapene spp.). Thesis. University of Texas, Tyler, Texas. pp.
2013 Martin, Bradley T., Neil P.Bernstein, Roger D. Birkhead, Jim F.Koukl, Steven M.Mussmann, and John S. Placyk, Jr. Sequence-based molecular phylogenetics and phylogeography ofthe American box turtles (Terrapene spp.) with support from DNA barcoding. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 68(1):119-134
2014 Martin, Bradley T., Neil P. Bernstein , Roger D. Birkhead, Jim F. Koukl , Steven M. Mussmann and John S. Placyk, Jr. On the Reclassification of the Terrapene (Testudines: Emydidae): A Response to Fritz & Havaš. Zootaxa (3835):292–294
2014 Fritz, Uwe and Peter Havas. On the reclassification of Box Turtles (Terrapene): A response to Martin et al. (2014). Zootaxa (3835):295–298
2016 Powell, Robert, Roger Conant, and Joseph T. Collins. Peterson Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston. 494pp.
2017 Crother, Brian I. (editor) Scientific and Standard English Names of Amphibians and Reptiles of North America North of Mexico, with Comments Regarding Confidence in Our Understanding. Eighth edition. Herpetological Circulars (43):1-102
2018 Vitek, Natasha S. Delineating modern variation from extinct morphology in the fossil record using shells of Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina). PLoS One 13(3):e0193437
2020 Martin, Bradley T., Marlis R. Douglas, Tyler K. Chafin, John S. Placyk, Jr., Roger D. Birkhead, Christopher A. Phillips, and Michael E. Douglas. Contrasting signatures of introgression in North American box turtle (Terrapene spp.) contact zones. Molecular Ecology 29(21):4186-4202
2021 Martin, Bradley T. Dynamics of hybrid zones at a continental scale. Dissertation. University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas. 241pp.
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
2021 Martin, Bradley T., Tyler K. Chafin, Marlis R. Douglas, John S. Placyk Jr., Roger D. Birkhead, Christopher A. Phillips, and Michael E. Douglas. The choices we make and the impacts they have: Machine learning and species delimitation in North American box turtles (Terrapene spp.) Molecular Ecology Resources 21(8):2801-2817

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Thursday 30 January 2025 02:06 CT