SREL Reprint #2878

Siebenrockiella crassicollis (Black Marsh Turtle). Fire scars

Joseph C. Mitchell1, Tracey D. Tuberville2, and Kurt. A. Buhlmann3

1Department of Biology, University of Richmond, Richmond, Virginia 23173 USA
2University of Georgia, Savannah River Ecology Lab, Drawer E, Aiken, South Carolina 29802 USA
3Conservation International, Center for Applied Biodiversity Science,
1919 M Street, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20036 USA

Introduction: Occurrence of fire scars on the shells of turtles is best described for the North American box turtle (Terrapene carolina) (Dodd et al, 1997. Herpetol. Nat. Hist. 5:66-72; Rose 1986. Southwest. Nat. 31:131-134; Smith 1958. Turtox News 36:234-237). Scars often result from the turtle being exposed to fire while partially buried in terrestrial habitats with the mid-dorsal and posterior areas of the carapace burned most frequently. Siebenrockiella crassicollis has been described as a bottomwalking aquatic turtle that inhabits deep ponds, marshes, sluggish streams, and swamps (Ernst and Barbour 1989. Turtles of the World. Smithsonian Inst. Press, Washington, D.C.; Iskandar 2000. Turtles and Crocodiles of Insular Southeast Asia and New Guinea. PALMedia Citra. Bandung, Indonesia; Liat and Das 1999. Turtles of Borneo and Peninsular Malaysia. Nat. Hist. Publ. (Borneo), Sabah, Malaysia). It is known to walk on land, presumably during movements between aquatic habitats (Liat and Das, op. cit.). We report here on observations of fire scars in a sample of S. crassicollis that suggests heretofore unrecognized terrestrial activity.

SREL Reprint #2878

Mitchell, J. C., T. D. Tuberville, and K. A. Buhlmann. 2005. Siebenrockiella crassicollis (Black Marsh Turtle). Fire scars. Herpetological Review 36:169.

This information was provided by the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (srel.uga.edu).