(North American) Wood Turtle

Open encyclopedia reference

The wood turtle (Glyptemys insculpta) is a semi-aquatic turtle species in the family Emydidae. The species inhabits the northeastern United States and Canada. The wood turtle exists in a broad geographic range extending from Nova Scotia in the north (and east) across the Great Lakes region to Minnesota in the west, and Virginia in the south. In the past, it was forced south by encroaching glaciers: skeletal remains have been found as far south as Georgia. The genus Glyptemys contains only one other species of turtle: the bog turtle (Glyptemys muhlenbergii). The specific name, insculpta, refers to the rough, sculptured surface of the carapace. Wood turtles spend a great deal of time in or near trout streams, small rivers, preferring clear or tannin-stained streams with compacted and sandy bottoms. The wood turtle is a disturbance-dependent species that frequents forests and forest openings but will rarely be seen more than several hundred meters from flowing water. It is diurnal and is not overtly territorial. It spends the winter underwater in brumation and the hottest parts of the summer in estivation.

Wikipedia contributors, Wood turtle; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T12:50:12.680368+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Glyptemys insculpta (Le Conte, 1830)

Name authority

(Le Conte, 1830)

Common name

(North American) Wood Turtle

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Reptilia

Order

Testudines

Family

Emydidae

Genus

Glyptemys

Extinction status

Not supplied by this source

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
9. orderTestudines Batsch, 1788
10. suborderCryptodira
11. superfamilyTestudinoidea
12. familyEmydidae
13. genusGlyptemys
14. speciesGlyptemys insculpta (Le Conte, 1830)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Glyptemys. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 41 records assigned to Emydidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Glyptemys&species=insculpta Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:3GHJR. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.