McKnight, Donald T., Hollender, Ethan C., and Ligon, Day B. (2022) Where are the turtles? Looking for Western Chicken Turtles, Deirochelys reticularia miaria, in Mississippi. Herpetology Notes, 15. pp. 609-613.

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Abstract

Turtles are among the world’s most threatened vertebrates, with roughly two-thirds of species listed as threatened or endangered (Buhlmann et al., 2009). Factors such as habitat loss, overharvesting, poaching, disease, and climate change are driving these declines (Stanford et al., 2020), and it is imperative that we carefully monitor turtle populations to determine the extent of declines and prioritize conservation actions for threatened species.

Western Chicken Turtles (Deirochelys reticularia miaria Schwartz, 1956) are among the turtles that appear to be experiencing rapid declines. This subspecies is distinct from the other subspecies in morphology (Schwartz, 1956), diet (McKnight et al., 2015c), nesting season (McKnight et al., 2015a, 2018; Carr and Tolson, 2018), and activity season (McKnight et al., 2015a; Bowers 2020). Genetic comparisons are currently limited, but available data also suggest a deep phylogenetic split between the Eastern Chicken Turtle, D. r. reticularia, (Latreille, 1801) and D. r. miaria Schwart, 1956 (Walker and Avise 1998; Hilzinger 2009). Historically, D. r. miaria occurs in Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, and a small portion of western Mississippi, and the ranges of D. r. miaria and D. r. reticularia are primarily divided by the Mississippi River, which likely acts as a strong barrier to interbreeding.

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