142: Ornate Box Turtle
One of only two turtles native to the Great Plains, the Ornate Box Turtle lives from Louisiana to Colorado, and is the state reptile of both Kansas and Nebraska; it is protected in Colorado. Their name comes from their bright yellow coloration, which, when viewed from above, looks like a sunburst on each of their scutes (the segments of the carapace). They also have a hinged plastron (the bottom part of the shell), which allows them to close up their shell tightly to protect their soft body parts. They are omnivorous and love to eat dung beetles – they have even been known to eat carrion.
They hibernate about six months of the year in burrows that they dig under the frost line. For this reason, they like to live in sandy prairie soils, such as where yucca and prickly pears grow – it is easy to burrow into!
They are very slow to mature and reproduce, which is why they are protected. Sadly they are often collected for the (illegal) pet trade, hit by cars, or lose their habitat. If you want to help them out, you can donate to the Colorado Box Turtle Project, a first-of-its-kind long term study of this species in eastern Colorado.
Here’s an interesting fact – there are about 50% more females of this species than males in the wild, which relates to the temperature at which their eggs incubate, and how sex is determined by egg temperature, with higher temperatures producing more female offspring.
Oh, also, they’re super tiny. Seriously click and look at the little guy on the clipboard.