• Terrapene carolina
• 10 - 21.6 cm (4 - 8.5 inches)
• Terrestrial
• Vertebral column, backbone, and ribs grow into shell and into turtle's skin
• Movable plastron hinge allows lower shell to close tightly against carapace
• Carapace high-domed and keeled
• Variable in color and pattern
• Female - shell is rounded, humped in the middle
• Scales on outside of shell
• Shell made of calcium
• Scale rings tell age. Can count on only young turtles
• Mottling - shell camouflage
• Males have red eyes
• Females have yellowish-brown eyes
• Eats slugs, earthworms, strawberries and poisonous mushrooms
• Habitats include moist forested areas, wet meadows, pastures and floodplains
