Natural History of the Ornate Box Turtle, Terrapene ornata ornata Agassiz

by John M. Legler

Fig. 4. T. o. ornata smelling food (× 1).

Fig. 5. T. o. ornata in attitude of alertness after detecting intruder (× ³∕₈).

Fig. 6. Tracks of T. o. ornata in muddy ravine (× ¹∕₈) (June 5, 1956).

PLATE 29

Fig. 1. A small, nearly-healed, injury on the carapace of an adult T. o. ornata (× 2). Note regenerated epidermis at bottom of depression and two pieces of dead bone ("splinter scars") at upper right margin of depression.

Fig. 2. Injured area on the carapace of a juvenal T. o. ornata (× 3) with dead bone removed and laid to the right, exposing regenerating epidermis in its early stages.

Fig. 3. Anterior edge of carapace (held away with forceps) of specimen of T. carolina (KU 51461, Gulf Co., Florida) that had been badly burned (× ⁸∕₉). Nearly all the scutes of the shell had fallen off and large pieces of dead bone could be pulled away, exposing a gnarled mass of regenerating bone and epidermis.

Fig. 4. A fracture that has healed and joined the tibia (upper bone) to the fibula in a specimen of T. o. ornata (KU 1877, × 3½).

PLATE 30