Map Turtle Group

General Description
This is a large group, of which 11 species have either Federal or state protection. Distribution of these turtles is species-specific. They collectively range throughout the river systems from Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and the Dakotas southward to southwestern Alabama and westward to eastern Texas. These turtles prefer waters with moderate to fast currents, abundant basking structures, and wide sandbars. Mollusks and other invertebrates are the primary food items for all species of this group. Basking is an important component of the daily activity of map turtles; therefore, the quantity and quality of basking structures will significantly influence their occurrence within a habitat. Population declines for many of these species are directly attributed to habitat destruction and overharvesting for the pet trade.

Protected or Sensitive Species Identified

Species Profile Species Links USACE Data

Barbour's map turtle

Cagle's map turtle

Escambia Bay map turtle

yellow-blotched map turtle

common map turtle

black-knobbed map turtle

delta map turtle

ringed map turtle

false map turtle

Ouachita map turtle

Sabine map turtle

Alabama map turtle

Other Species Information
USACE District/Division survey summary
Protection status by state

References
Anderson, P. K. (1958). "The photic responses and water-approach behavior of hatchling turtles," Copeia 1958:211-15.

Arndt, R. G., and Potter, W. A. (1973). "A population of the map turtle, Graptemys geographica, in the Delaware River, Pennsylvania," Journal of Herpetology 7:375-77.

Cagle, F. R. (1953). "The status of the turtle Graptemys oculifera (Baur)," Zoologica 38:137-44.

Cliburn, J. W. (1971). "The ranges of four species of Graptemys in Mississippi," Journal of Mississippi Academy of Science 16:16-19.

Dickerson, D. D., and Reine, K. J. (1996). "Habitat assessment and relative abundance estimates for the ringed sawback turtle (Graptemys oculifera) in dredging sites of the west Pearl River navigation project (Louisiana)," Project report for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Vicksburg District, by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Waterways Experiment Station, Environmental Laboratory, Vicksburg, MS.

Dundee, H. A., and Rossman, D. A. (1989). The amphibians and reptiles of Louisiana. Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge, LA.

Ernst, C. H. (1974). "Observations on the courtship of male Graptemys pseudogeographica," Journal of Herpetology 8:377-78.

Ernst, C. H., Lovich, J. E., and Barbour, R. W. (1994). "Turtles of the United States and Canada," N. P. Dutro, ed., Smithsonian Institution.

Ewert, M. A. (1979a). "The embryo and its egg: Development and natural history," Turtles: Perspectives and research, M. Harless and H. Morlock, eds., John Wiley & Sons, New York, 333-413.

Ewert, M. A. (1979b). "Graptemys pseudogeographica ouachitensis (Ouachita map turtle). USA: Indiana," Herpetological Review 10:102.

Ewert, M. A., and Nelson, C. E. (1991). "Sex determination in turtles: Diverse patterns and some possible adaptive values," Copeia 1991:50-69.

Gibbons, J. W., and Nelson, D. H. (1978). "The evolutionary significance of delayed emergence from the nest by hatchlings turtles," Evolution 32:297-303.

Gordon, D. M., and MacCulloch, R. D. (1980). "An investigation of the ecology of the map turtle, Graptemys geographica (LeSueur), in the northern part of its range," Canadian Journal of Zoology 58:210-19.

Harvey, M. B. (1992). "The distribution of Graptemys pseudogeographica on the upper Sabine River," Texas Journal of Science 44:257-58.

Haynes, D., and McKown, R. R. (1974). "A new species of map turtle (genus Graptemys) from the Guadalupe River system in Texas," Tulane Studies in Zoology and Botany 18:143-52.

Johnson, K. A. (1983). "The decline of the spotted turtle, Clemmys guttata, in northeastern Illinois," Bulletin of Chicago Herpetological Society 18:37-41.

Jones, R. L. (1991). "Density and population structure of the ringed sawback turtle, Graptemys oculifera (Baur)," Final Report. Mississippi Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Parks, Museum of Natural Science, Museum Technical Report (17):1-55.

Jones, R. L., and Hartfield, P. D. (1995). "Population size and growth in the turtle Graptemys oculifera." Journal of Herpetology 29(3):426-36.

Kofron, C. P. (1991). "Aspects of ecology of the threatened ringed sawback turtle, Graptemys oculifera," Amphibia-Reptilia 12:161-68.

Lahanas, P. N. (1982). "Aspects of the life history of the southern black-knobbed sawback, Graptemys nigrinoda delticola Folkerts and Mount," M.S. thesis, Auburn University, Auburn, AL.

Lovich, J. E., Garstka, W. R., and McCoy, C. J. (1990). "The development and significance of melanism in the slider turtle," Life history and ecology of the slider turtle, J. W. Gibbons, ed., Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC, 233-54.

McCoy, C. J., and Vogt, R. C. (1980). "Distribution and population status of the ringed sawback Graptemys oculifera (Baur) in Mississippi and Louisiana," Final Report, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Contract No. 14-16-004-79-038.

McCoy, C. J., and Vogt, R. C. (1988). "Graptemys oculifera," Catalog American Amphibian Report 484:1-2.

Mount, R. H. (1975). "The reptiles and amphibians of Alabama," Auburn University Agricultural Experiment Station, Auburn, AL.

Pluto, T. G., and Bellis, E. D. (1986). "Habitat utilization by the turtle, Graptemys geographica, along a river," Journal of Herpetology 20:22-31.

Shively, S. H., and Jackson, J. F. (1985). "Factors limiting the upstream distribution of the Sabine map turtle," American Midland Naturalist 114:292-303.

Stewart, J. H. (1988). "A recovery plan for the ringed sawback turtle Graptemys oculifera," U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Southeast Region.

Tingle, D. W. (1959). "The relation of the fall line to the distribution and abundance of turtles," Copeia 1959:167-70.

Vermersch, T. G. (1992). "Lizards and turtles of south-central Texas," Eakin Press, Austin, TX.

Vogt, R. C. (1980). "Natural history of the map turtles Graptemys pseudogeographica and G. ouachitensis in Wisconsin," Tulane Studies in Zoology and Botany 22:17-48.

Vogt, R. C. (1981a). "Natural history of amphibians and reptiles of Wisconsin," Milwaukee Public Museum, Milwaukee, WI.

Vogt, R. C. (1981b). "Food partitioning in three sympatric species of map turtles, genus Graptemys (Testudinata, Emydidae)," American Midland Naturalist 105:102-11.

Wahlquist, H. (1970). "Sawbacks of the gulf coast," International Turtle and Tortoise Society Journal 4(4):10-13.

Waters, J. H. (1974). "The biological significance of the basking habit in the black-knobbed sawback, Graptemys nigrinoda Cagle," M.S. thesis, Auburn University, Auburn, AL.

White, C. P., and Moll, D. (1991). "Clutch size and annual reproductive potential of the turtle Graptemys geographica in a Missouri stream," Journal of Herpetology 25:493-94.

Wibbels, T., Bull, J. J., and Crews, D. (1991). "Chronology and morphology of temperature-dependent sex determination," Journal of Experimental Zoology 260:371-81.