Terrapin irest1/8/2024 macrospilota (Hay, 1904) – ornate diamondback terrapin (Florida) littoralis ( Hay, 1904) – Texas diamondback terrapin (Texas) centrata ( Latreille, 1801) – Carolina diamondback terrapin (Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina) Seven subspecies are recognized, including the nominate race. This is especially true of females, who have larger and more muscular jaws than males. Like their relatives ( Graptemys), they have strong jaws for crushing shells of prey, such as clams and snails. They have strongly webbed hind feet, but not flippers like sea turtles do. Terrapins also exhibit unusual and sophisticated behavior to obtain fresh water, including drinking the freshwater surface layer that can accumulate on top of salt water during rainfall and raising their heads into the air with mouths open to catch falling rain drops. They can distinguish between drinking water of different salinities. Terrapins have lachrymal salt glands, not present in their relatives, which are used primarily when the turtle is dehydrated. They can live in full strength salt water for extended periods, and their skin is largely impermeable to salt. They have several adaptations that allow them to survive in varying salinities. Terrapins look much like their freshwater relatives, but are well adapted to the near shore marine environment. The largest females can weigh up to 1 kg (35 oz). Male diamondback terrapins weigh 300 g (11 oz) on average, while females weigh around 500 g (18 oz). Specimens from regions that are consistently warmer in temperature tend to be larger than those from cooler, more northern areas. The largest female on record was just over 23 cm (9 in) in carapace length. The species is sexually dimorphic in that the males grow to a carapace length of approximately 13 cm (5 in), while the females grow to an average carapace length of around 19 cm ( 7 + 1⁄ 2 in), though they are capable of growing larger. The diamondback terrapin has large webbed feet. All have a unique pattern of wiggly, black markings or spots on their body and head. The shell coloring can vary from brown to grey, and its body color can be grey, brown, yellow, or white. The shell is usually wider at the back than in the front, and from above it appears wedge-shaped. The common name refers to the diamond pattern on top of its shell (carapace), but the overall pattern and coloration vary greatly. In British English, however, other semi-aquatic turtle species, such as the red-eared slider, might also be called terrapins. It retains this primary meaning in American English. The name originally was used by early European settlers in North America to describe these brackish-water turtles that inhabited neither freshwater habitats nor the sea. It applies to Malaclemys terrapin in both British English and American English. The name "terrapin" is derived from the Algonquian word torope. It has one of the largest ranges of all turtles in North America, stretching as far south as the Florida Keys and as far north as Cape Cod. It belongs to the monotypic genus Malaclemys. The diamondback terrapin or simply terrapin ( Malaclemys terrapin) is a species of turtle native to the brackish coastal tidal marshes of the Northeastern and southern United States, and in Bermuda.
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