Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Slow and Steady

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We walked down a dike to explore a little at the St. Marks Wildlife Refuge on Sunday afternoon and stumbled upon (almost literally) this box turtle. I believe it may well be a Florida Box Turtle, Terrapene carolina bauri , or a  Terrapene carolina major. If we had stopped to count the toes on the back feet, we could know for sure. Maybe next time!

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Have to wonder what is going on with the carapace. Maybe a predator. Whatever it was, several of the scutes were missing.

When we came back, it had decided to move around a bit. The length of its neck was a little surprising.

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You can see how the scutes grow and expand similar to tree rings, and can be used to determine a turtle's age. There are well-documented cases of box turtles living 50 years or more. The scutes are made of a material similar to keratin, like our fingernails. The missing scutes have been replaced by bone. Under this, the turtle's ribs and spine are fused to the shell.

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I was fascinated by its eyelids. They close primarily UP when it blinks. I read that since this one's eyes were more brown than red or orange, it is probably a female.

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And so the year of reptiles continues!

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