Eastern box turtle

Eastern box turtle
	Eastern box turtle in Southern Illinois
Conservation status
	; Vulnerable (IUCN 3.1)
	CITES Appendix II (CITES)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Testudines
Suborder:	Cryptodira
Superfamily:	Testudinoidea
Family:	Emydidae
Genus:	Terrapene
Species:	T. carolina
Subspecies:	T. c. carolina
Trinomial name
	Terrapene carolina carolina; (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms
	click to expand Testudo carolina Linnaeus, 1758 ; Testudo carinata Linnaeus, 1758 ; Testudo brevicaudata ; Lacépède, 1788 ; Testudo incarcerata Bonnaterre, 1789 ; Testudo incarceratostriata Bonnaterre, 1789 ; Testudo clausa Gmelin, 1789 ; Testudo virgulata Latreille, 1801 ; Testudo caroliniana Daudin, 1801 (ex errore) ; Emydes clausa Brongniart, 1805 ; Emys clausa – Schweigger, 1812 ; Emys schneideri Schweigger, 1812 ; Emys virgulata – Schweigger, 1812 ; Didicla clausa – Rafinesque, 1815 ; Terrapene clausa – Merrem, 1820 ; Monoclida kentukensis ; Rafinesque, 1822 ; Cistudo clausa Say, 1825 ; Terrapene carolina Bell, 1825 ; Terrapene maculata Bell, 1825 ; Terrapene nebulosa Bell, 1825 ; Terraphene clausa – Gray, 1825 ; Terrapene virgulata – Fitzinger, 1826 ; Emys tritentaculata ; Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1829 ; (nomen nudum) ; Emys (Cistuda) carolinae Gray, 1831 (ex errore) ; Emys kinosternoides Gray, 1831 ; Testudo irregulata Daudin, 1831 (nomen nudum) ; Cistuda carolina – Gray, 1831 ; Didicla clausa – Rafinesque, 1832 ; Emys cinosternoides A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1835 (ex errore) ; Emys schneiderii A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1835 (ex errore) ; Testudo incarceratastriata A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1835 (ex errore) ; Cinosternon clausum – Henle, 1839 ; Pyxidemys clausa – Fitzinger, 1843 ; Terrapene carolina maculata ; – LeConte, 1854 ; Terrapene carolina nebulosa ; – LeConte, 1854 ; Cistudo carolinensis Gray, 1856 (ex errore) ; Cistudo carolina – Agassiz, 1857 ; Cistudo virginea Agassiz, 1857 ; Terrapene carinata – Strauch, 1862 ; Cistudo eurypygia Cope, 1869 ; Cistudo carinata – Garman, 1884 ; Cistudo carolina var. cinosternoides – Boulenger, 1889 ; Cinosternum clausum ; – Hoffmann, 1890 ; Cistudo cinosternoides ; – Garman, 1892 ; Terrapene eurypygia ; – O.P. Hay, 1902 ; Terrapene cinosternoides ; – Siebenrock, 1909 ; Terrapene carolina carolina ; – Stejneger & Barbour, 1917 ; Terrapene cardlina Proctor, 1922 (ex errore) ; Terepene carolina – Breder, 1924 ; Terrapene kinosternoides ; – Lindholm, 1929 ; Terrapene caritana Schmidt, 1953 (ex errore) ; Terrapene carolinensis – Schmidt, 1953 ; Terrapene carolinina Schmidt, 1953 (ex errore);

The eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina) is a subspecies within a group of hinge-shelled turtles normally called box turtles. T. c. carolina is native to the eastern part of the United States.

The eastern box turtle is a subspecies of the common box turtle (Terrapene carolina). While in the pond turtle family, Emydidae, and not a tortoise, the box turtle is largely terrestrial. Box turtles are slow crawlers, extremely long-lived, and slow to mature and have relatively few offspring per year. These characteristics, along with a propensity to get hit by cars and agricultural machinery, make all box turtle species particularly susceptible to anthropogenic, or human-induced, mortality.

In 2011, citing "a widespread persistent and ongoing gradual decline of Terrapene carolina that probably exceeds 32% over three generations", the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) downgraded its conservation status from near threatened to vulnerable.

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