Wood turtle
Forest pond turtle ( Glyptemys insculpta )
The living forest in eastern North America terrapin ( Glyptemys insculpta, formerly Clemmys i ) is a type of New World pond turtles. Until a few years ago it was like the bog turtle still attributed to the genus Clemmys, which contains only the spotted turtle as mono generic genre today.
The forest pond turtle feeds on berries and fruit, and animal diet and hibernates usually in the bottom mud of a water body. The animals have a strong sense of direction and show an unusual for reptiles activity at low temperatures (it was already encountered in the snow ).
Appearance
The forest pond turtle is very sturdy. It has a flat, longitudinally oval carapace of the rear area is slightly wider. The rear edge labels are cut. It has a pronounced center keel and the eponymous growth rings (Latin insculpta, sculpted ' ) of each carapace signs are very pronounced. The carapace can be green - gray, light brown to dark brown in color. Often a black or yellowish ray tracing can be seen. The plastron ( plastron ) is yellow in color. Each plate has a dark spot in each of the lower, outer corner. The upper jaw is notched in front. The head can greyish to black in color, the neck yellowish to reddish brown. The legs have powerful claws, webbed are weak.
The males are up to 13 cm, females up to 23 cm tall and 600-1000 grams. The males of this species are usually smaller than the females. The latter have a longer, thicker at the base of tail than the females. The plastron of males is concave curved inward, while that of females straight or convex. Slightly outward. The males have very massive heads.
Area of distribution and habitat
Glyptemys insculpta is located in northeastern North America. Their range extends from southern Canada ( Nova Scotia ) to about to Virginia and westward to the Great Lakes up to Wisconsin. Their habitat are small bodies of water in deciduous and mixed forests and lakes, ponds, streams, rivers, marshes and wet meadows. The forest pond turtle is not very closely tied to water. They are often located on land and undertake long migrations.
They eat both plants and fruit as well as earthworms, carrion, housing and slugs and insects and tadpoles. They overwinter in rotting piles of leaves, burrows, caves under embankments or in the muddy banks of water bodies.
During the breeding season they show a pronounced courtship behavior. Males are at this time often very aggressive towards each other. The females lay their eggs usually from May and June. Clutches include between four and twelve eggs, which are elliptically shaped. In the north of its range, the young hatch occasionally until next year and the winter so in the eggs. Also a wintering in the Nistgruben happens.