Wild Guide: Northern Map Turtle

The northern map turtle is a medium-sized aquatic turtle with a brown or olive-brown upper shell and a netlike pattern of fine, squiggly, yellow lines that give the shell the appearance of a road map, hence its name. Northern map turtles are strong swimmers with fully webbed limbs. They are active from late March to October in small- to medium-sized rivers, reservoirs, sloughs, and oxbow lakes. They require basking sites and aquatic plants.

Did You Know?

Prime basking spots on Ozark streams are as important to northern map turtles as the availability of prey. The heavy use of many Ozark streams and rivers by canoes and inflated rubber tubes will send basking turtles scrambling into the water. This traffic prevents turtles from basking and may, in turn, reduce survivorship.