Ornate box turtle

The ornate box turtle (Terrapene ornata ornata) is one of the two subspecies of Terrapene ornata and one of only two terrestrial turtles native to the Great Plains of the United States. It is the state reptile of Kansas and Nebraska and is protected or of concern in several Midwestern states. A small turtle, it measures about 10 to 15 centimetres when full grown, with yellow lines running from the centre of a grey, red-brown or black shell to its edges; males often have red irises and a large curved claw on each hind foot. It lives mostly in open grassland and prairie, burrows into soil to escape heat and to hibernate in winter, and eats almost anything available, from grasses, berries and insects to carrion. Individuals are reported to live 32 to 37 years. Agriculture, development, road traffic and collection for the pet trade threaten it, and the IUCN lists it as near threatened.