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Glyptemys insculpta (LE CONTE, 1830)

IUCN Red List - Glyptemys insculpta - Endangered, EN
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Higher TaxaEmydidae, Emydinae, Testudinoidea, Testudines (turtles)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: (North American) Wood Turtle
G: Waldbachschildkröte 
SynonymTestudo insculpta LE CONTE 1830
Emys speciosa GRAY 1831
Emys speciosa var. levigata GRAY 1831
Emys inscripta GRAY 1831 (ex errore)
Clemmys insculpta FITZINGER 1835
Glyptemys insculpta — AGASSIZ 1857
Chelopus insculptus — HENSHAW 1907: 65
Clemmys insculpta — WRIGHT 1918: 54
Clemmys insculpta — ERNST & BARBOUR 1989: 189
Clemmys insculpta — CONANT & COLLINS 1991: 51
Clemmys insculpta — CROTHER 2000
Glyptemys insculpta — HOLMAN & FRITZ 2001
Calemys insculpta — FELDMAN & PARHAM 2002
Glyptemys insculpta — OBST 2003: 16
Glyptemys insculpta — MCCORD & JOSEPH-OUNI 2006
Glyptemys insculpta — TTWG 2014
Glyptemys insculpta — TTWG 2021 
DistributionCanada (from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, S Ontario),
USA (Maine, SE New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, S New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, N Virginia, West Virginia, NE Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, E Minnesota, NE Iowa)

Type locality: "inhabits the northern states," USA.; restricted to the "vicinity of New York City" by Schmidt (1953:92).  
Reproductionoviparous. 
TypesLectotype: MNHN-RA 6955 and MNHN-RA 9452 (R. Bour, pers. comm., cited in Iverson 1992: 172) (note there is only one specimen with MNHN-RA 9452 being the shell and MNHN-RA 6955 head, tail and members of the same specimen) 
DiagnosisAdditional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (1441 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentType species: Testudo insculpta LE CONTE, 1830 is the type species of the genus Glyptemys AGASSIZ 1857. Color plate in Hennen (2001).

Fossils: HOLMAN & FRITZ 2001 described Glyptemys valentinensis from the Middle Miocene (Medial to Late Barstovian: ca 14.5-11.5 Ma BP) of Nebraska, which is the closest fossil relative of C. insculpta.

Hybridization: HARDING & DAVIS (1999) reported hybrids between Clemmys insculpta and Emydoidea blandingii. FRITZ (2001: 338 ff) reported a hybrid between Clemmys insculpta and Clemmys marmorata.

Genetics: Montiel et al. (2016) identified a macro-chromosome XX/XY system in the GSD wood turtle Glyptemys insculpta, the youngest known sex chromosomes in chelonians (8–20 My old). Comparative analyses show that their X/Y is homologous to chromosome 4 of Chrysemys picta, chromosome 5 of Gallus gallus (chicken), and thus to the X/Y sex chromosomes of Siebenrockiella crassicollis.

Habitat: freshwater (swamps, bogs, rivers) 
Etymologynamed after Latin “insculpta”, meaning engraved or sculptured; referring to the growth annuli on the carapacial scutes.

The genus is named after the sculptured carapace, from Greek glypho = to carve, cut, or Greek glyptos = carved, and Greek emys = tortoise (Glyptemys = carved turtle). 
References
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