NC Diamondback Terrapin Conservation Network

General Biological Information - Page under development: June 2008

Overview of the Diamondback Terrapin (pdf) - by Hart & Lee in Studies in Avian Biology Journal No. 32:206-213.

From the abstract: "Ranging from Cape Cod to nearly the Texas-Mexico border, the diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin) is the only species of North American turtle restricted to estuarine systems. Despite their extensive distribution, its zone of occurrence is very linear and in places fragmented resulting in a relatively small total area of occupancy... Here we describe some of the biological and behavioral adaptations of terrapins that allow them to live in such a harsh environment... review the natural and cultural history of this turtle, discuss conservation issues, and provide information on the types of research needed to make sound management decisions for terrapin populations in peril."

 

Review of "Diamonds in the Marsh" by Barbara Brennessel- By Lee in Terrapin Tails, newsletter of The Mid-Atlantic Turtle & Tortoise Society, March 2007: 14-16

Terrapins in Bermuda (pdf) - By Parham et al in Biology Letters (Online subscription version).

From the abstract: "Humans have greatly altered the natural distribution of species, making it difficult to distinguish between natural and introduced populations. This is a problem for conservation efforts because native of introduced status can determine whether a species is afforded protection of persecuted as an invasive pest... In this study, we test the origin of ...the diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin), on Bermuda using a combination of palaeontological...and genetic data. These lines of evidence suggest that terrapins are relatively recent (between 3000 and 400 years ago) natural colonizers of Bermuda. This tiny population of Bermudan terrapins represents the second naturally occurring non-marine reptile that still survives on one of the most densely populated and heavily developed oceanic islands in the world. We recommend that they should be given protection as a native species."

 

"For nearly fourty years the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries, chiefly through its station at Beaufort, North Carolina, has conducted investigations aimed toward the development of effective propagation techniques, and any individual interested in starting a terrapin farm will find the results of these researchers invaluable in giving him some notion of his chances for success. The zologists who searches the literaure for data on the life history of these famous animals under natural conditions, however, finds astonishingly little."
Archie Carr (1952) Handbook of Turtles