Anyone driving on rural Carroll County roads recently might have noticed turtles risking it all to get from one side to the other. One might wonder where they are going and why. Odds are the turtle was a three-toed box turtle (TBT), also known as an Eastern box turtle. They are common throughout Arkansas, especially in wooded areas though they are less particular about their habitat than other turtle varieties.
“A turtle is simply a reptile with a shell,” states Harper & Row’s Field Guide to North American Wildlife. Turtle ancestors apparently originated in the Triassic Period 157 million years ago which mean they predate snakes and crocodiles. There are probably 327 species in the world today, and Arkansas is home to at least 19 turtle species.
Life as a turtle
Scientists refer to turtles, terrapins and tortoises as chelonians because they belong to the Chelonii order of reptiles. Most Americans typically use the word “turtle” for all chelonians whereas English speakers in England use “turtle” only for aquatic chelonians. Tortoise is the term for strictly land-dwellers, and terrapin refers to chelonians that prefer stagnant, shallow watering holes.
The largest chelonian in the world today is the leatherback sea turtle, which can grow longer than six feet and weigh a ton. The largest turtle in North America is the alligator snapping turtle which can be longer than 30 inches and weigh 250 pounds, and, of course, it lives in the rivers, streams, bogs and lakes throughout Arkansas except for the mountainous northwest area north of the Arkansas River and the western Ouachita Mountain region.
Fossil records indicate there were very large tortoises throughout the world until the arrival of humans, who apparently ate them all except the ones in the Seychelles and the Galapagos Islands. Those tortoises today can be longer than 50 inches and weigh up to 660 pounds. In the distant past, there was a sea turtle species 15 feet long.
Because they are reptiles, turtles get their body heat from the environment. They are less active during the winter, spending most of their time semi-hibernating. Land-dwellers burrow into the ground and water-dwellers find a resting place at the bottom of a body of water. Whereas turtle hearts beat about 40 times a minute during the summer, they might beat only once every ten minutes when abiding the cold. They also surface when they detect a break in the cold. How turtles survive in water for such long periods of time requires the equivalent of a Master’s thesis to explain. It’s very chemical and anatomical.
Once the weather warms up in spring, terrestrial species such as the TBT scurry around, even crossing a roadway, looking for food and a mate. For terrestrials, mating is preceded by a bit of biting, head-stroking and shell bumping. Three to six weeks later a clutch of eggs is laid in a sandy or moist spot the female unearthed with her hind legs. At this point, turtle parental duties are complete.
The female might lay as many as three clutches in a year. She can store sperm for up to three years, and more than one father might have participated. Incubation time depends on ambient temperatures, but the eggs begin to hatch within six to 12 weeks. Hatchlings emerge with the turtle version of a placenta still attached to its underside, and this sac nourishes the newborn for a few days.
The TBT, a common species in Carroll County, is omnivorous and opportunistic in its diet. It will consume berries, plant matter, even fungi but also any worms, caterpillars and small insects it can catch.
A very similar species to the TBT in Arkansas is the much rarer ornate box turtle (OBT). Ornates reside exclusively in prairies or open meadows while three-toes prefer wooded areas or open spaces near woods or streams, but they are less particular than ornates.
The shell of a turtle is called the carapace and the underside is referred to as the plastron. Herpetologists and curious eight-year olds know that ornates can be distinguished by their flashy black and yellow undersides. The carapace of the TBT and OBT is usually plain brownish but might have yellow or orange spots or streaks in no predictable arrangement. Scientists who analyze genetic markers have determined the two species occasionally hybridize.
The hind feet of ornates have four toes, but counting turtle toes seems either very scientific or entirely too personal.
Other Arkansas chelonians include snapping turtle, alligator snapping turtle, southern painted turtle, western chicken turtle, three kinds of map turtles, eastern river cooter, red-eared slider, two mud turtles, two musk turtles (including a razor-backed), two softshell turtles and a painted turtle.
And guess what? The turtle crossed the road to get to the shell station and next week is Part II on turtles.