Today, the desert tortoise occurs from tropical areas in northern Sinaloa and southern Sonora northward through the Sonoran Desert in central Sonora and western Arizona to the Mohave Desert in southeastern California, southwestern Utah, and southern Nevada. The desert tortoise lumbering over rocks on a hillside among foothills palo verdes and saguaros is the modern representative of a lineage that began 50 million years ago in early Tertiary tropical forests long before the Sonoran Desert existed. Like all turtles it is toothless the large tongue helps push food back in the mouth. The male’s plastron is concave at the posterior to accommodate the rounded carapace of the female during copulation. Yellowish plastron is not hinged and is connected to the carapace at the sides. The adult desert tortoise can measure up to 14 inches (35.5 cm) in length the hatchlings are only about 2 to 2¼ inches The genus Gopherus also has flattened forelimbs for digging. Tortoises differ from other turtles in having cylindrical and elephantine hindlegs and short, broad, club-shaped feet. Spanish names: tortuga del desierto, tortuga de los cerros, tortuga del monte Distinguishing Features Females lay 2 to 9 eggs from May to September.ĭesert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizii also Xerobates agassizii) Insects, and worms, it also eats some fish and frogs. Life HistoryĪlthough the Sonoran mud turtle favors invertebrate prey such as crustaceans, Though occasionally found in desert and grassland areas, this turtle usually inhabits oak to pinyon-juniper woodlands or pine-fir forest. HabitatĪ stream dweller, the Sonoran mud turtle is usually found in springs, creeks, ponds, and intermittent streams. This species is widespread from central Arizona to Durango, Mexico and southeastern California to west Texas up to 6700 feet (2042 m). Males have tails with a hooked tip and 2 groups of thickened scales on the inner surfaces of the hind legs. The head and neck have light and dark marks there are several barbels (fleshy projections) located under the chin. The shell is often partially covered with algae. (Scutes are the large, hornified plates that cover the shell.) This turtle generally has a uniform light brown or yellowish-brown shell. The same scute on a yellow mud turtle is usually taller than it is wide. The Sonoran mud turtle can be distinguished from the yellow mud turtle by noting its non-enlarged ninth marginal scute (indicated by the arrow on the illustration). The name Kinosternon means moveable chest, which refers to the hinged plastron (lower part of shell). The Sonoran mud turtle is medium sized (up to 6¼ inches, 16.5 cm) with a smooth, high-domed carapace (upper part of the shell). Spanish name: tortuga del agua Distinguishing Features Sonoran Mud turtle (Kinosternon sonoriense)įamily: Kinosternidae (mud and musk turtles) Shells or defending themselves with strong beaks. Commentsīox turtles can be either timid or pugnacious, retreating into their tough Breeding strongly correlates with rainfall. It reproduces from March to November, laying 2 to 8 eggs per clutch. The western box turtle is omnivorous, feeding on insects (especially beetles), berries, leaves, fruits, and sometimes carrion. These burrows are used to avoid temperature extremes and reduce desiccation. It tends to create shallow burrows in loose soils it will also use mammal burrows and bannertail kangaroo rat mounds. The western box turtle of grasslands, found in treeless plains to gentle hills with grass or low bushes and sandy soils, though occasionally it is found in desert habitats. This turtle is found as far north and east as South Dakota, Michigan, and Indiana, south through southeast Arizona, New Mexico and Texas into northern Mexico. The shells of older animals often lose their pattern, becoming a uniform pale green or straw color. The male has an orange to reddish iris, reddish spots on the foreleg, and an inwardly curved nail on each hind foot. Both the high-domed carapace (upper part of the shell) and hinged plastron (lower part) are black or brown with radiating yellow lines and dots. To “ornate (patterned) small turtle,” which aptly describes this 6 inch Spanish name: tortuga de caja Distinguishing Features Terrapene Western Box Turtle (Terrapene ornata)
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