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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) 
Diagnosis 
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 (Glyptemys = carved turtle). 
References
  • Abdala, V.; Manzano, A.S. & Herrel, A. 2008. The distal forelimb musculature in aquatic and terrestrial turtles: phylogeny or environmental constraints? J. Anat. 213: 159–172 - get paper here
  • Agassiz, Louis 1857. Contributions to the Natural History of the United States of America. vol. 1. Little, Brown & Co., Boston, lii + 452 pp. - get paper here
  • Amato, M.L.; Brooks, R.J. & Fu, J. 2008. A phylogeographic analysis of populations of the wood turtle (Glyptemys insculpta) throughout its range. Molecular Ecology 17: 570–581 - get paper here
  • Arrowood, C; Arrowood, A & Badje, A F; 2019. Geographic Distribution: Glyptemys insculpta (Wood Turtle) USA: Wisconsin: Langlade Co. Herpetological Review 50 (2): 324 - get paper here
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  • Figueras, Miranda and Burke, Russel L. 2017. Glyptemys insculpta (Wood Turtle) Long-term sperm storage. Herpetological Review 48 (1): 175 - get paper here
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  • Franek, B L & Ruziecki, M R 2018. Glyptemys insculpta (Wood Turtle) Rail Trail nesting challenges. Herpetological Review 49 (2): 318 - get paper here
  • Fritz, U. 2001. Handbuch der Reptilien und Amphibien Europas, Band 3/IIIA Schildkröten I. Aula-Verlag, Wiebelsheim. - get paper here
  • Gräf, A., et al. 2003. The wood turtle, Glyptemys insculpta, at River Denys: a second population for Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. Canadian Field-Naturalist 117(3):415-418 - get paper here
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  • Graziano, M; 2018. Glyptemys insculpta (Wood Turtle) Subterranean refugia. Herpetological Review 49 (4): 732 - get paper here
  • Greaves, W.F. & J.D. Litzgus 2007. Overwintering Ecology of Wood Turtles (Glyptemys insculpta) at the Species' Northern Range Limit Journal of Herpetology 41 (1): 32-40. - get paper here
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  • Hagani, Jason S.; Suzanne K. MaCey, John D. Foley & Chad L. Seewagen 2021. Movement Ecology of the Imperiled Wood Turtle (Glyptemys insculpta) in a Lower Hudson River Watershed. Chelonian Conservation and Biology 20(2): 281–289. - get paper here
  • Harding, J.H. & Davis, S.K. 1999. Clemmys insculpta (wood turtle) and Emydoidea blandingii (Blandings’ turtle). Hybridization. Herpetological Review 30: 225-226 - get paper here
  • Hartzell, S. 2017. Glyptemys insculpta (Wood Turtle) and Graptemys geographica (Northern Map Turtle) Interspecific basking. Herpetological Review 48 (3): 622. - get paper here
  • Hartzell, Sean M. and Amber L. Pitt. 2014. Glyptemys insculpta (wood turtle) nesting habitat and behavior. Herpetological Review 45 (4): 687-688 - get paper here
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