Western chicken turtle

Western chicken turtle
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Testudines
Family:	Emydidae
Genus:	Deirochelys
Species:	D. reticularia
Subspecies:	D. r. miaria
Trinomial name
Deirochelys reticularia miaria

The western chicken turtle (Deirochelys reticularia miaria) is a small to medium-sized aquatic turtle.

Description

The egg-shaped carapace is rough textured without keels or marginal serrations and tends to be olive to brown in color. The vertebral scutes are broad, the first of which connects to four marginal and the cervical scute. The marginal scutes are yellow and may be blotched. The yellow plastron is unhinged and unmarked with the bridges containing one or two dark splotches. The skin of the western chicken turtle is olive to brown with yellow lines extending from the head across the neck, from the shoulder to the feet and vertically on the rump. The long narrow head comes to a point at the beak, which is neither hooked nor notched. The western chicken turtle received its common name from its long head and neck, which tends to be as long as the plastron. This species also exhibits sexual dimorphism with the female being larger than males.^[1]

Range

The western chicken turtle ranges across the southeastern United States from Virginia to western Oklahoma and south to the Gulf of Mexico. There are three recognized subspecies: The Florida chicken turtle (D. r. chrysea) of the Florida peninsula, the western chicken turtle (D. r. miaria) of western Mississippi and all areas west of the Mississippi River, and the eastern chicken turtle (D. r. reticularia) which extends across the rest of the range. The western chicken turtle can be distinguished by its flattened shape, broad, faint lines on the carapace, and dark makings along the seams of the plastron.^[1]

Habits

Most of what is known about this turtle has been reported in studies on the eastern subspecies (D. r. reticularia) in South Carolina.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

There, it is known to inhabit still waters, ponds, ditches, sloughs, and swamps. Fluctuating water with abundant aquatic vegetation is the optimal habitat. It is omnivorous and preys primarily on invertebrates.^[3] The western chicken turtle will bask and frequently travels overland for a variety of activities including nesting, migration, estivation, and hibernation.^[2] The eastern chicken turtle exhibits a bimodal nesting pattern, nesting both in August – September and February – March.^[4][5][6]

References

Family Emydidae (pond turtles)
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Reptilia Order: Testudines Suborder: Cryptodira Superfamily: Testudinoidea Family: Emydidae
Genus	Species of the subfamily Deirochelyinae
Chrysemys	Painted turtle
Deirochelys	Chicken turtle
Graptemys	Alabama map turtle Barbour's map turtle Black-knobbed map turtle Cagle's map turtle Escambia map turtle False map turtle Northern map turtle Ouachita map turtle Pascagoula map turtle Pearl River map turtle Ringed map turtle Texas map turtle Yellow-blotched map turtle
Malaclemys	Diamondback terrapin
Pseudemys	Alabama red-bellied cooter Northern red-bellied cooter Florida red-bellied cooter Peninsula cooter Rio Grande cooter River cooter Texas river cooter
Trachemys	Big bend slider Baja California slider Central Antillean slider Colombian slider Cuatro Cienegas slider Cuban slider D'Orbigny's slider Hispaniolan slider Jamaican slider Maranhão slider Meso-American slider Nicaraguan slider Ornate slider Pond slider Yaqui slider
	Species of the subfamily Emydinae
Clemmys	Spotted turtle
Emys	Blanding's turtle European pond turtle Sicilian pond turtle Western pond turtle
Glyptemys	Bog turtle Wood turtle
Terrapene	Coahuilan box turtle Common box turtle Ornate box turtle Spotted box turtle
Phylogenetic arrangement based on turtles of the world 2011 update: annotated checklist. Subspecies and the extinct (Gyremys sectabilis) are not included.