NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Eastern Box Turtle [carolina]
Terrapene carolina (Linnaeus, 1758)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Photo of a Florida Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina bauri). Taken in Jacksonville, Florida, USA.
“Jonathan Zander (Digon3)" · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The common box turtle (Terrapene carolina) is a species of box turtle with five existing subspecies. It is found throughout the Eastern United States and Mexico. The box turtle has a distinctive hinged lower shell that allows it to completely enclose itself, like a box. Its upper jaw is hooked.
The turtle is primarily terrestrial and eats a wide variety of plants and animals. The females lay their eggs in the summer. Turtles in the northern part of their range hibernate over the winter.
Common box turtle numbers are declining because of habitat loss, roadkill, and capture for the pet trade. The species is classified as vulnerable to threats to its survival by the IUCN Red List. Two states have chosen subspecies of the common box turtle as their official state reptile: T. c. carolina in North Carolina and Tennessee.
Wikipedia contributors, Common box turtle; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T12:55:48.214628+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Terrapene carolina (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Name authority
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Common name
- Eastern Box Turtle [carolina]
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Testudines
- Family
- Emydidae
- Genus
- Terrapene
- 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.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
- orderTestudines Batsch, 1788
- suborderCryptodira
- superfamilyTestudinoidea
- familyEmydidae
- genusTerrapene
- speciesTerrapene carolina (Linnaeus, 1758)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Terrapene. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Coahuilan box turtleTerrapene coahuila Schmidt & Owens, 1944 | EmydidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Mexican Box TurtleTerrapene mexicana (Gray, 1849) | EmydidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Spotted box turtleTerrapene nelsoni Stejneger, 1925 | EmydidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Testudo carolina Linnaeus, 1758 Linnaeus, 1758 | synonym |
| Cistudo eurypygia Cope, 1870 Cope, 1870 | synonym |
| Cistudo major Agassiz, 1857 Agassiz, 1857 | synonym |
| Emys kinosternoides Gray, 1831 Gray, 1831 | synonym |
| Cistudo virginea Agassiz, 1857 Agassiz, 1857 | synonym |
| Terrapene maculata Bell, 1825 Bell, 1825 | synonym |
| Terrapene nebulosa Bell, 1825 Bell, 1825 | synonym |
| Testudo carinata Linnaeus, 1758 Linnaeus, 1758 | synonym |
| Testudo clausa Gmelin, 1789 Gmelin, 1789 | synonym |
| Testudo brevi-caudata Lacépède, 1788 Lacépède, 1788 | synonym |
| Emys schneideri Schweigger, 1812 Schweigger, 1812 | synonym |
| Monoclida kentukensis Rafinesque, 1822 Rafinesque, 1822 | synonym |
| Terrapene bauri Taylor, 1895 Taylor, 1895 | synonym |
| Testudo virgulata Latreille, 1801 Latreille, 1801 | synonym |
| Testudo incarcerata Bonnaterre, 1789 Bonnaterre, 1789 | synonym |
| Testudo incarcerato-striata Bonnaterre, 1789 Bonnaterre, 1789 | synonym |
| Testudo caroliniana Daudin, 1802 Daudin, 1802 | synonym |
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.
- https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Terrapene&species=carolina 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:55HWJ. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.