Distribution and Habitats of Turtles in New Mexico

Abstract

Distributional and habitat data on nine species of New Mexico turtles are presented by locality maps and text. The state's turtle fauna consists of Chelydra serpentina, Kinosternon flavescens, K. sonoriense, Terrapene ornata, Chry- semys picta, Pseudemys concinna, P. scripta elegans, P. scripta gaigae, Trionyx muticus, T. spiniferus emoryi, and T. spiniferus hartwegi. Active study of New Mexico turtles began in 1961 and since that time approximately 700 specimens have been added to the University of New Mexico collections. Specimens from other collections and published accounts were included in the locality maps for each species. The aquatic turtles are primarily distributed along the state's princi- pal river systems but individual species show marked differences in their ability to survive away from permanent waters. The single terrestrial species, Terrapene ornata, is widely distributed in the state below about 6,600 feet. Dense populations of Terrapene occur in the grasslands of northeastern New Mexico as well as in relatively dry, sandy desert areas in the southeast but were not found on steep, rocky, mountain slopes, in dense woodlands, or in seemingly suitable habitats in northwestern New Mexico. Much of the herpetological collecting in the southwest prior to 1900 was done in conjunction with United States governmental surveying expeditions or military activities. These explorations had accompany- ing naturalists, who amassed sizeable collections, and their names were often used in the description of the animals they collected. Turtles, because of difficulty in collecting without specialized equip- ment, were absent or poorly represented in these early collections. Van Denburgh (1924), providing the first major contribution to the knowledge of the state herpetofauna, listed five species of turtles. The