Spotted Turtle (Clemmys guttata)

Common Name: Spotted Turtle
 
Scientific Name: Clemmys guttata
 
Physical Description: Small, smooth-shelled, blackish turtles with yellow-orange spots. These turtles average shell lengths of 3.5 to 5 inches and weights of 1/2 to 3/4 of a pound.
 
Habitat: They live in marshy meadows, springs, wet woodlands, boggy areas, beaver ponds, and shallow muddy-bottomed streams.
 
Range: They can be found in southern Canada, and the western United States.
 
Diet: The Spotted Turtle eats aquatic insects, plants, mollusks and occasionally frogs and small fish.
 
Lifespan: They live 25-50 years.
 
Social Structure: Three to four (1-inch long) eggs are normally laid in June and hatch within 2 to 3 months. No parental care exists. The young are “on their own” once they hatch. These turtles mature at 8 to 10 years of age.

Status: Endangered1
 
Other: The Spotted Turtle is an exceptional reptile that actually prefers cooler temperatures. Unlike other turtles, they will burrow underground or into cool mud to escape hot summer temperatures.

​1 https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/4968/97411228