Terrapene carolina triunguis (three-toed box turtle)
Abstract
Terrapene carolina triunguis is the western-most subspecies of T. carolina and has a range that stretches from southeast Kansas and central Missouri south to the Gulf Coast (Conant and Collins 1998. A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America. 3rd ed. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, Massachusetts. 616 pp.). Three-toed Box Turtles are omnivorous and consume a wide variety of food items (Ernst et al. 1994. Turtles of the United States and Canada. Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C. 578 pp.). It has been suggested that Terrapene carolina triunguis may be a seed disperser for some plants (Braun and Brooks 1987. Amer. Midl. Nat. 117:31–318).