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Reptilia    Testudines    Emydidae  

Three-toed Box Turtle
Terrapene triunguis (Agassiz, 1857)

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 Martin et al. (2013, Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 68: 119–134) found support for a western (including triunguis, mexicana, and yucatana) and an eastern group (carolina, baurii, and major, plus coahuila) within T. carolina. They elevated the former to species status (T. mexicana, the oldest name) with three subspecies (including triunguis). However, Fritz and Havas (2014, Zootaxa (3835): 295–298) argued against the recognition of mexicana (including triunguis) as a separate species because of demonstrated genetic introgression between triunguis and carolina. Nevertheless, because of documented interspecific hybridization between many other closely related turtle species, Martin et al. (2014, Zootaxa (3835): 292–294) reaffirmed and bolstered (2020, Molecular Ecology 29: 4186–4202; 2021, Molecular Ecology Resources 21: 2801–2817) their support for recognizing mexicana (including triunguis) and carolina as separate species. Turtle Taxonomy Working Group (2021, Chelonian Research Monographs (8): 1–472) tentatively recognized the Three-toed Box Turtle as a distinct species (Terrapene triunguis) (see taxonomic comments on p. 368; account p. 187), rather than a subspecies of either T. carolina or T. mexicana.

Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2023.12.13.09.09.14)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 0.52 MB

Province/State Distribution:
USA: Kansas

First instance(s) of published English names:
Three-toed Box Tortoise (Cistudo mexicana: 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.); Three-toed Box Turtle (Cistudo clausa var. triunguis: 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.); Three-toed Box Tortoise (Cistudo carolina triunguis: 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); Three-toed Tortoise (Onychotria triunguis: 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); Three-toed Box Turtle (Terrapene triunguis: Beyer, George. 1900. Louisana herpetology. Proceedings of the Louisiana Society of Naturalists 1897-1899():24-46); Carolina Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina: Hurter, Julius. 1911. Herpetology of Missouri. Transactions of the Academy of Science St. Louis 20(5):59-274); Three-toed Box Turtle (Terrapene kinosternoides: Hurter, Julius. 1911. Herpetology of Missouri. Transactions of the Academy of Science St. Louis 20(5):59-274); Three-Toed Box Tortoise (Terrapene carolina triunguis: Strecker, John K., Jr. 1922. An annotated catalogue of the amphibians and reptiles of Bexar County, Texas. Bulletin Scientific Society of San Antonio (4):1-31); Three-Toed Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina triunguis: 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

Selected References:
1857 Agassiz, Louis. Contributions to the Natural History of the United States of America. Volume 1. Little, Brown & Company, Boston, Massachusets. 452pp.
1968 Blaney, Richard M. Hybridization of the box turtles Terrapene carolina and T. ornata in western Louisiana. Proceedings of the Louisiana Academy of Sciences 31:54-57
1969 Milstead, William W. Studies on the evolution of box turtles (genus Terrapene). Bulletin of the Florida State Museum, Biological Sciences 14(1):1-113
1974 Gillette, David D. A proposed revision of the evolutionary history of Terrapene carolina triunguis. Copeia 1974(2):537-539
1982 Kiester, A. R., C. W. Schwartz and E. R. Schwartz. Promotion of gene flow by transient individuals in an otherwise sedentary population of box turtles (Terrapene carolina triunguis). Evolution 36(3):617-619
1991 Ernst, Carl H. Terrapene. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (511):1-6
1991 Collins, Joseph T. Amphibians and reptiles in the upper Mississippi river valley: Systematic and distributional problems. Journal of the Tennessee Academy of Science 66(4):149-152
1996 Minx, Patrick. Phylogenetic relationships among the box turtles, genus Terrapene. Herpetologica 52(4):584-597
2001 Dodd, C. Kenneth, Jr. North American Box Turtles: A Natural History. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman. pp.
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
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
2021 Martin, Bradley T., Tyler K. Chafin, Marlis R. Douglas, John S. Placyk Jr., Roger D. Birkhead, Chris 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.) bioRxiv Preprint:46

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Monday 19 May 2025 18:47 CT