Eastern box turtle

Eastern box turtle
Eastern box turtle in Southern Illinois
Conservation status
Vulnerable  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
CITES Appendix II (CITES)[2]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Testudines
Suborder:	Cryptodira
Superfamily:	Testudinoidea
Family:	Emydidae
Genus:	Terrapene
Species:	T. carolina
Subspecies:	T. c. carolina
Trinomial name
Terrapene carolina carolina (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms[3]
click to expand Testudo carolina Linnaeus, 1758 Testudo carinata Linnaeus, 1758 Testudo brevicaudata Lacépède, 1788 Testudo incarcerata Bonnaterre, 1789 Testudo incarceratostriata Bonnaterre, 1789 Testudo clausa Gmelin, 1789 Testudo virgulata Latreille, 1801 Testudo caroliniana Daudin, 1801 (ex errore) Emydes clausa Brongniart, 1805 Emys clausa – Schweigger, 1812 Emys schneideri Schweigger, 1812 Emys virgulata – Schweigger, 1812 Didicla clausa – Rafinesque, 1815 Terrapene clausa – Merrem, 1820 Monoclida kentukensis Rafinesque, 1822 Cistudo clausa Say, 1825 Terrapene carolina Bell, 1825 Terrapene maculata Bell, 1825 Terrapene nebulosa Bell, 1825 Terraphene clausa – Gray, 1825 Terrapene virgulata – Fitzinger, 1826 Emys tritentaculata Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1829 (nomen nudum) Emys (Cistuda) carolinae Gray, 1831 (ex errore) Emys kinosternoides Gray, 1831 Testudo irregulata Daudin, 1831 (nomen nudum) Cistuda carolina – Gray, 1831 Didicla clausa – Rafinesque, 1832 Emys cinosternoides A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1835 (ex errore) Emys schneiderii A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1835 (ex errore) Testudo incarceratastriata A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1835 (ex errore) Cinosternon clausum – Henle, 1839 Pyxidemys clausa – Fitzinger, 1843 Terrapene carolina maculata – LeConte, 1854 Terrapene carolina nebulosa – LeConte, 1854 Cistudo carolinensis Gray, 1856 (ex errore) Cistudo carolina – Agassiz, 1857 Cistudo virginea Agassiz, 1857 Terrapene carinata – Strauch, 1862 Cistudo eurypygia Cope, 1869 Cistudo carinata – Garman, 1884 Cistudo carolina var. cinosternoides – Boulenger, 1889 Cinosternum clausum – Hoffmann, 1890 Cistudo cinosternoides – Garman, 1892 Terrapene eurypygia – O.P. Hay, 1902 Terrapene cinosternoides – Siebenrock, 1909 Terrapene carolina carolina – Stejneger & Barbour, 1917 Terrapene cardlina Proctor, 1922 (ex errore) Terepene carolina – Breder, 1924 Terrapene kinosternoides – Lindholm, 1929 Terrapene caritana Schmidt, 1953 (ex errore) Terrapene carolinensis – Schmidt, 1953 Terrapene carolinina Schmidt, 1953 (ex errore)

The eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina) is a subspecies within a group of hinge-shelled turtles normally called box turtles. T. c. carolina is native to the Eastern United States.

The eastern box turtle is a subspecies of the common box turtle (Terrapene carolina). While in the pond turtle family, Emydidae, and not a tortoise, the box turtle is largely terrestrial.^[4] Box turtles are slow crawlers, extremely long-lived, and slow to mature and have relatively few offspring per year. These characteristics, along with a propensity to get hit by cars and agricultural machinery, make all box turtle species particularly susceptible to anthropogenic, or human-induced, mortality.

In 2011, citing "a widespread persistent and ongoing gradual decline of Terrapene carolina that probably exceeds 32% over three generations", the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) downgraded its conservation status from near threatened to vulnerable.^[1]