![]() from Maine to Florida, from the Great Lakes to Texas. Woodland box turtles are typically found in the eastern U.S. Woodland box turtles, formerly called eastern box turtles, are a subspecies of the common box turtle. The image for August depicts the turtle’s distinctive high-domed carapace with vivid orange and yellow markings. The DNR 2022 Wildlife Calendar features a box turtle painting by West Virginia artist Anna Dolly. “However, box turtles have been declining throughout their range, and West Virginia is no exception.” WHAT ARE WOODLAND BOX TURTLES? “These data will allow us to better assess the population status in West Virginia,” he said. Oxenrider led the DNR project that enlisted West Virginians as “citizen scientists” tracking sightings of woodland box turtles. “That is part of the reason we have established long-term monitoring sites across the state, as well as solicited participation from the public to contribute observation data.” ![]() “We do not have an exact number at this time,” said Kevin Oxenrider, amphibian and reptile program leader, West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (WVDNR). The International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species lists the woodland box turtle as vulnerable, although scientists do not yet have enough data to say how far the population has fallen. Box turtle numbers have been declining steadily for years. However, this is simply a form of intraspecific hybridization, as opposed to interspecific or intergeneric hybridization.When was the last time you saw a box turtle in the wild?ĭid you, like so many of us, enjoy watching its slow, steady plod through the grass? Were you treated to the sight of a turtle stretching its neck toward low-hanging tomatoes in the garden and snatching a bite with its hooked beak? Have you picked one up to admire closeup, only to have it shut itself away in its protective shell? For example, you could allow a single strand of DNA to bind with another single strand of DNA from another source, and the resulting double-stranded helix would still be called a "hybrid." Intergradation does occur when two subspecies form intermediate offspring where their two ranges overlap. The term "hybridization" can refer to any mixture of genes. Again, this is probably due to misalignment of the actual gene loci on the chromosomes.Īt any rate, all species in the genus Terrapene have 50 chromosomes, but I don't know how well their genes line up, so although I suspect they could form healthy interspecific hybrid offspring, I don't know whether they would have reduced fertility or not. In contrast, wolves and coyotes both have 78 chromosomes, and yet their interspecific hybrid offspring tend to have reduced fertility. Other than this difference, wild and domestic horses still have good gene loci alignment, and so their offspring are fertile, even though they have the odd number of 65 chromosomes. ![]() This is probably because the increased chromosome count of wild horses was due to a fairly recent Robertsonian translocation, in which one large chromosome became two smaller ones. However, wild Przewalski horses have 66 chromosomes, and can form fully fertile intraspecific hybrids with domestic horses. True, donkeys have only 62 chromosomes to a domestic horse's 64, and mules, which have the odd number of 63 chromosomes are indeed sterile. Reduced fertility appears to be due to a misalignment of genes on the chromosomes, although not necessarily chromosome count. Both of these mixes produced healthy offspring, but it's not known whether or not they were fully fertile. In captivity, people have reported redfoots hybridizing with yellowfoots, and Russians hybridizing with Hermanns. If they were to mate, I think hybrid offspring would be produced, but I don't know if they would be fully fertile or not.įertility in turtles is not really well understood. However, this was probably because he did not allow them to brumate (hibernate), since turtles that don't hibernate appear to be less likely to breed. ![]() Hopefully that has changed now.Īnyway, as I mentioned, my friend did keep a male three-toed boxie together with a female ornate boxie for many years, but they never mated. Not only did I write a long reply that failed to upload, but I couldn't even write anything.
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