






































Iguana, June 2008


78 IGUANA  •  VOLUME 15, NUMBER 2  •  JUNE 2008 SCHAFFER, WOOD, NORTON, AND SCHAFFER

Diamondback Terrapins (Malaclemys terrapin) in a crab trap. 

SH
A

N
N

O
N

 T
O

M
PK

IN
S,

 H
O

U
ST

O
N

 C
H

R
O

N
IC

LE



Imagine for a moment an animal species whose very existence
threatened our survival. What would we be willing to do?

One consideration would certainly be to control its numbers,
possibly even to ponder its extermination. Perhaps we would
embark upon a crusade to eliminate every last individual, con-
ceivably starting with females so no more would be created.
What kind of animal might fall into this category? Something
big and scary with large teeth or claws and a ravenous hunger
would do. A creature with a propensity for insensate carnage and
destruction might also fit the bill. Perhaps at times in the dim
past such creatures may have existed, or at least creatures that
were thus perceived. However, humans now determine the des-
tiny of the world, and this niche is rarely occupied. Tigers,
sharks, crocodiles, and the like might have fallen into this cate-
gory, but only rarely and in very specific times and places. One
animal that would definitely not be considered threatening is a
turtle. Unlike the rest of the reptilian clan, people are almost
universally fond of turtles.

Yet a campaign is afoot to eliminate the inoffensive
Diamondback Terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin). Sure, you would-
n’t want to intentionally place a finger in a terrapin’s mouth as it
could give a nasty bite, but this would be the same with almost
any animal. Nevertheless, the terrapin is being subjected to a
campaign of systematic extermination. Traps take terrapins along
with crabs. The same traps, when lost or discarded, continue to
remove adults indiscriminately. Roadways built along or through
marshes unequally target reproductive females by mimicking
nesting grounds. Unsustainable take for markets and by-catch

severely decimate numbers. Hits by boat propellers, habitat loss,
shoreline and coastal development, pollution, and predation also
take their toll.

In order to address these concerns, we need to answer two
simple questions: (1) Is present legislation for the protection of
these turtles based on an adequate knowledge of terrapins’ bio-
logical needs? (2) Can anything be done by either state or
national governments to check the extermination of terrapins?
These questions were posed, not in a magazine article, but in a
government publication, “The Natural History and Cultivation
of the Diamond-back Terrapin” by Coker in 1906. We haven’t
progressed very far since then.

Carl Hiaasen (2006; reprinted in IGUANA 13(2):
154–155) eloquently framed the problem regarding Gopher
Tortoises and developers permitted to bury them if willing to
pay a price, “If your kids asked to bury a small animal alive,
you’d be horrified. You’d tell them that’s an awful thing and that
they ought to be ashamed. Most children wouldn’t dream of
doing it, of course, because they know what’s wrong and what’s
right. Unfortunately, they don’t make the rules.” Although we
don’t bury terrapins, we might as well.

Diamondback Terrapins are unique. The word terrapin often
is used to refer to a variety of North American aquatic turtles, but
especially the genus Malaclemys — the Diamondback Terrapin.
Diamondback refers to the conspicuous ridges on the scutes of the
carapace. The etymology of Malaclemys has been lost over the
years, with possible translations of “Mala” range from bad, to soft,
to soft heads, to soft prey, none of which are convincing. The
Greek word for chelonian gives rise to “clemmys,” and “terrapin”
is a derivation of torope, from the Virginia Algonquian tongue.
John White first illustrated this turtle in watercolor around 1585
(Lorant 1946). A terrapin also was pictured in “Their Manner of
Fishing in Virginia” (Plate XIII, Incolarum Virginiae piscandira-
tio) in de Bry’s India Occidentalis (1590). The Diamondback
Terrapin was formally described for science by Schoepff
(1792–1801) as Testudo terrapin (in “Tab. XV”).

Diamondback Terrapins tolerate a wide range of salinity,
although they are most commonly found in brackish environ-
ments. Oddly enough, unlike sea turtles, which also are found
in saltwater, terrapins are thought to drink only fresh water.
Found from Massachusetts to Texas, seven subspecies are cur-
rently recognized. Nesting takes place multiple times a year in
warmer portions of their range and only once annually near the
northern limits. Some variation occurs, with some Georgia ter-
rapins nesting less frequently than their New Jersey brethren.

Terrapins in the Stew
Chuck Schaffer1, Roger Wood2, Terry M. Norton3, and Rick Schaffer4

1Turtle and Tortoise Newsletter, 13811 Tortuga Point Drive, Jacksonville, FL, 32225, USA (Chelonian1@aol.com)
2The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, Pomona, NJ, 08240, USA (Roger.Wood@stockton.edu)

3Director of Veterinary Services, Georgia Sea Turtle Center, Jekyll Island, GA 31527 
and St. Catherine’s Island Center, Midway, GA 31320 USA (Tnmynahvet@aol.com)

4Stanton College Preparatory School, 13811 Tortuga Point Drive, Jacksonville, FL, 32225, USA (Accipender@aol.com)

IGUANA  •  VOLUME 15, NUMBER 2  •  JUNE 2008 79TERRAPINS

�

Diamondback Terrapins (Malaclemys terrapin) are suffering from over-
harvesting and inadvertent mortality. 

B
R

IA
N

 K
. M

EA
LE

Y
, I

N
ST

IT
U

TE
 O

F 
W

IL
D

LI
FE

 S
C

IE
N

C
ES



Female Malaclemys are larger than males. The species exhibits
temperature dependent sex determination (TSD).

The origin of this species is uncertain, but most authorities
believe that it evolved from Map Turtles (Graptemys) or from a
common ancestor shared with Graptemys (Dobie 1981, Lamb
and Ostentoski 1997, Wood 1977).

Terrapins appear in myriad folktales (usually as a trickster)
from pre-contact Native American legends to Uncle Remus’s Brer
Terrapin (Brer Tarrypin), who beats Brer Bear in a tug of war by
diving underwater with the rope and tying it to a branch
(Chandler 1881). Much more recently, in “Time of the Turtle,”
Jack Rudloe (1979) experiences a run of bad luck after capturing
a batch of Diamondback Terrapins. He related a myth prevalent
among the local fisherman that terrapins, locally known as “wind
turtles,” bring ill fortune. He traced the story back to local Native
American tribes that regarded terrapins as sacred animals.

Tales tell of terrapins in the Chesapeake being so great in
number that slaves and indentured servants complained about
the frequency of turtles in their diets. A corollary rumor tells of
a law passed by the State of Maryland prohibiting excessive
meals of terrapin to said complainants. I have never been able to

find evidence other than old news stories (Anonymous 1892),
one of which stated, “In some of the old records of the State

80 IGUANA  •  VOLUME 15, NUMBER 2  •  JUNE 2008 SCHAFFER, WOOD, NORTON, AND SCHAFFER

Schoepff ’s Testudo terrapin Tab. XV (1792–1801; above); White’s ter-
rapin (~1585; above right), and de Bry’s “Their Manner of Fishing in
Virginia” (1590; right). Note the terrapin in the water below the canoe
in the latter image.



IGUANA  •  VOLUME 15, NUMBER 2  •  JUNE 2008 81TERRAPINS

(Maryland) there were clauses that the slaves should not be fed
on terrapin more than three times a week.”

Gourmet Delicacy
Undeniably the terrapin was sufficiently tasty that many never
complained about eating too much terrapin. True (1884) wrote,
“Philadelphia furnishes the best market for this species, but it is
also sold in large numbers in Baltimore, Washington, New York,
Boston, Chicago, Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Saint Louis, and many
other cities.” He went on to quote a price of up to fifty cents
each, quite expensive for the time. The price and harvest contin-
ued to rise and, within a few years, approximately 400,000
pounds a year were harvested, representing a value of about
$44,000 (True 1887). Cookbooks from the mid-1800s to the
early 1900s confirm the popularity of terrapins. The first of these
recipes is from The White House Cookbook ... (Gillette et al. 1887).

Stewed Water Turtles, or Terrapins
Select the largest, thickest and fattest, the females being the best;
they should be alive when brought from market. Wash and put
them alive into boiling water, add a little salt, and boil them until
thoroughly done, or from ten to fifteen minutes, after which take
off the shell, extract the meat, and remove carefully the sand-bag

and gall; also all the entrails; they are unfit to eat, and are no longer
used in cooking terrapins for the best tables. Cut the meat into
pieces, and put it into a stewpan with its eggs, and sufficient fresh
butter to stew it well. Let it stew till quite hot throughout, keep-
ing the pan carefully covered, that none of the flavor may escape,
but shake it over the fire while stewing. In another pan make a
sauce of beaten yolk of egg, highly flavored with Madeira or sherry,
and powdered nutmeg and mace, a gill of currant jelly, a pinch of
cayenne pepper, and salt to taste, enriched with a large lump of
fresh butter. Stir this sauce well over the fire, and when it has
almost come to a boil take it off. Send the terrapins to the table
hot in a covered dish, and the sauce separately in a sauce tureen,
to be used by those who like it, and omitted by those who prefer
the genuine flavor of the terrapins when simply stewed with but-
ter. This is now the usual mode of dressing terrapins in Maryland,
Virginia, and many other parts of the South, and will be found
superior to any other. If there are no eggs in the terrapin, “egg
balls” may be substituted.

Female terrapins, such as this individual, are larger than males; like
many turtles, sex is determined by temperature during incubation.

PH
IL

 A
LL

M
A

N

Diamondback Terrapins tolerate a wide range of salinity, although they
are most commonly found in brackish water.

JI
M

 H
A

R
D

IN
G

Brer Tarrypin (Chandler, 1881), “Terrafin fishing” (Leslie, 1888).



Stewed Terrapin
Plunge the terrapins alive into boiling water, and let them remain
until the sides and lower shell begin to crack — this will take less
than an hour; then remove them and let them get cold; take off
the shell and outer skin, being careful to save all the blood possi-
ble in opening them. If there are eggs in them put them aside in
a dish; take all the inside out, and be very careful not to break the
gall, which must be immediately removed or it will make the rest
bitter. It lies within the liver. Then cut up the liver and all the rest
of the terrapin into small pieces, adding the blood and juice that
have flowed out in cutting up; add half a pint of water; sprinkle a
little flour over them as you place them in the stewpan; let them
stew slowly ten minutes, adding salt, black and cayenne pepper,
and a very small blade of mace; then add a gill of the best brandy
and half a pint of the very best sherry wine; let it simmer over a
slow fire very gently. About ten minutes or so, before you are
ready to dish them, add half a pint of rich cream, and half a
pound of sweet butter, with flour, to prevent boiling; two or three
minutes before taking them off the fire peel the eggs carefully and
throw them in whole. If there should be no eggs use the yolks of
hens’ eggs, hard boiled. This recipe is for four terrapins.

The New York Times (Anonymous 1891) even recommended
terrapins as Lenten fare. For some unfathomable reason, terra-
pins and turtles to this day are considered “fish” by the Roman
Catholic Church — but that really isn’t all that surprising. In
Maryland statutes, the terrapin also was defined as a “fish” and
remains classified as such (Whilden, 2007).

Diamondback Terrapins were so popular as gourmet food
from the mid-1800s through the 1920s that wild stocks began
to diminish early in the 1900s (Babcock 1926, Finneran 1948,
McCauley 1945). The terrapin fishery was able to supply mar-
kets initially, but the increasing demand and decreasing num-
bers of wild terrapins necessitated another solution. Terrapins
were popular, not only in the United States, but many were
exported to locales including London, Paris, Berlin, Guam, and
Cuba. A number even found their way to rubber-rich Manaus
in Brazil. The new idea was to establish experimental terrapin
“pounds,” primarily in Georgia and North Carolina (Barney
1922; Coker 1906, 1920; Gadow 1901; Hatsel and Hildebrand
1926; Hay 1904; Hildebrand 1929, 1932, 1933). Ironically,
most of our early knowledge about the biology of Malaclemys
came from these farms.

Terrapin probably would have been driven to extinction if
not for the one-two punch of the great depression and prohibi-
tion. The latter rendered access to sherry (a key ingredient in ter-
rapin stew) almost impossible. Two eminent herpetologists,
Archie Carr and Roger Conant, suggested that consumers dis-
covering that the Diamondback Terrapin wasn’t orders of mag-
nitude tastier than less expensive turtles and the decreasing avail-
ability and increasing cost of household help contributed to the
survival of the species (Pritchard 1979).

Gone Fishing
Some (Coker 1951, Hurd et al. 1979) suggested that popula-
tions gradually recovered after the heavy exploitation of the ter-
rapin stew boom, and that terrapins were out of the woods —
but the reprieve, if indeed it existed, seems to have been fleeting.
Once again, wild populations are under intense pressure, this
time due to demand from Asian communities in the United
States and abroad. This threat is every bit as real as it was around
the turn of the 20th century. As demand continues to increase,
commercial harvesters are increasing efforts to supply the mar-
ket. Recent years have seen harvests increase five-fold, while wild
populations have dropped to as little as a quarter of their former
size. The total take in Maryland for 2006 was reportedly over
10,000 terrapins — a twenty-fold increase over the previous year
(Whilden 2007). One Maryland waterman has turned himself
into the “terrapin king.” He converted his property into a turtle
farm, “breeding tens of thousands of hatchlings for sale as food
or pets. We are sending the babies to China — thousands and
thousands and thousands,” Lewis said (Pelton 2006). The U.S.
Census Bureau even has an industry title for “Terrapin Catching”
(NAICS Code 114119; Census Industry Code 0280).

An Order of Crab with a Side of Terrapin
Many of us enjoy a dinner of crabs, but most of us don’t realize
the price for that meal is paid in terrapins. The primary cause of
terrapin mortality throughout a large portion of the species’
range is incidental capture and drowning in commercial crab
traps, with deaths estimated in the tens of thousands (Seigel and
Gibbons 1995). An early estimate in South Carolina alone was
2,835 terrapin captures per day in April and May (Bishop
1983). A single trap in Maryland was found with 49 entire and

82 IGUANA  •  VOLUME 15, NUMBER 2  •  JUNE 2008 SCHAFFER, WOOD, NORTON, AND SCHAFFER

Ghost traps continue to kill terrapins. 

R
O

G
ER

 W
O

O
D

Advice for the preparation of Lenten dinners (New York Times 1891).



IGUANA  •  VOLUME 15, NUMBER 2  •  JUNE 2008 83TERRAPINS

many partial turtle shells (Roosenberg 1991). Up to 78% of a
population could be captured in a single year (Roosenberg
1997). Since the distribution of the Blue Crab (Callinectes
sapidus), for which the two million commercial crab traps annu-
ally deployed were designed, coincides closely with that of the
terrapin, Diamondbacks are especially at risk (Watters and
Wood 2003). Although these traps were never intended to cap-
ture terrapins, they do.

These figures do not take into account recreational traps.
In one small Maryland community, over half of the waterfront
properties are weekend homes, and most of the docks have traps
in the water all week long. While many full-time residents check
their traps often enough to preclude terrapin drowning, that
would be impossible for the weekenders.

Ghost Story
“Ghost traps” are abandoned or lost crab traps that continue to
execute their function. They not only continue to deplete the
downward spiraling population of crabs, but also take many ter-
rapins. Ghost traps have been found with over 50 dead terrapins
(Roosenberg 1991). Of the two million commercial crab traps
placed in U.S. waters each year, as many as 25% become ghost
traps, and these devices take a long time to rust away.
Consequently, tens (or even hundreds) of thousands of traps work
tirelessly to catch terrapins and other creatures — without any
purpose. The results can be staggering (Watters and Wood 2003).

Our fish dinners also are paid for in terrapins. By-catch in
several fisheries can be substantive. One that is getting consid-
erable attention is the eel-pot fishery, which has great potential
for harm and has been relatively understudied (Radzio and
Roosenburg 2005).

Why Did the Terrapin Cross the Road?
The same roads we take to reach vacation destinations on bar-
rier islands or the beach kill turtles. Road mortality inadvertently
targets reproductively mature females because the roads mimic
the high ground that female terrapins use for nesting. Each year,
thousands of gravid terrapins are killed by vehicular traffic. In a
six-year period, a single seven-mile stretch of road accounted for
over 4,000 terrapin deaths (Wood and Herlands 1997).

Habitat loss continues to be a problem for terrapins. The
two main culprits are waterfront development (Roosenberg
1991) and pollution (Ford et al. 2008). Many waterfront prop-
erties are bulk-headed or rip-rapped, denying access to terrapins.
Several spill incidents in the last few years have affected prime
terrapin habitat. Without access to nesting sites or unpolluted
water, Diamondbacks cannot survive.

Due to the elimination of their natural predators, Raccoons
(Procyon lotor) have increased in number and densities and are
considered the major nest predators of terrapins (Butler 2000,
Burger 1977, Seigel 1980). They are, after all, a human-subsi-
dized predator, with great fondness for handouts from our trash-
cans. In some areas, the problem is so great that they destroy
100% of terrapin nests (Feinberg 2004). Consequently, many
previously thriving populations have become sinks (Ner 2003).

Thousands of gravid terrapins are killed each year by vehicular traffic. 

R
O

G
ER

 W
O

O
D

TO
M

A
S 

D
IE

G
N

E

Roads are sought by migrating turtles because they mimic the high
ground that females use for nesting, 

R
O

G
ER

 W
O

O
D



Even boat traffic takes a toll, with 20% of turtles in some pop-
ulations, predominantly females, showing propeller scars
(Roosenberg 1991).

Jay Leno, in a potato chip advertisement, said, “Eat ’em,
we’ll make more.” Unfortunately that doesn’t apply to
Diamondback Terrapins.

Literature Cited
Anonymous. 1891. Feasts in days of fasts. Hints for the preparation of Lenten

dinners. The New York Times, 15 March 1891.

Anonymous. 1892. Crabs in the Chesapeake. The New York Times, 12 July 1892.

Anonymous. 1902. Scarcity of Terrapin. Hints for the preparation of Lenten
dinners. The New York Times, 28 September 1902.

Babcock, H.L. 1926. The Diamond-back Terrapin in Massachusetts. Copeia
1926:742–748.

Barney, R.L. 1922. Further notes on the natural history and artificial propaga-
tion of the Diamond-back Terrapin. Bulletin of the United States Bureau
of Fisheries 38:91–111.

Bry, T. de. 1590. India Occidentalis. Volume One. De Bry, Francoforti [Their
Manner of Fishing in Virginia (Plate XIII, Incolarum Virginiae piscan-
diratio)].

Burger, J. 1977. Determinants of hatching success in the Diamondback Terrapin,
Malaclemys terrapin. American Midland Naturalist 97:444–464.

Butler, J.A. 2000. Status and Distribution of the Carolina Diamondback Terrapin,
Malaclemys terrapin centrata, in Duval County. Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission Final Report. Tallahassee, Florida.

Coker, R.E. 1906. The cultivation of the Diamondback Terrapin. North
Carolina Geological Survey Bulletin 14:1–69.

Coker, R.E. 1920. The Diamond-back Terrapin: Past, present and future.
Science Monthly I 1:171–186.

Coker, R.E. 1951. The Diamond-back Terrapin in North Carolina, pp.
219–230. In: H.F. Taylor (ed.), Survey of Marine Fisheries in North
Carolina. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill.

Finneran, L.C. 1926. Diamond-back Terrapin in Connecticut. Copeia 1948:138.

Gadow, H. 1901. Amphibia and Reptiles. Macmillan and Co. Ltd., London.

Gillette, F.L. and H. Ziegmann. 1887. The White House Cook Book: Cooking,
Toilet, and Household Recipes… R.S. Peale & Co., Chicago.

Harris, J.C. 1881. Uncle Remus, His Songs and His Sayings: The Folk-Lore of the
Old Plantation. D. Appleton, New York.

Hatsel, C. and S.F. Hildebrand. 1926. Diamondback Terrapin Culture at
Beaufort, N.C. Department of Commerce (Bureau of Fisheries) Circular
No. 60. Washington, D.C.

Hiaasen, C. 2006. Killing animals for profit. Miami Herald Sun, May 2007.
<www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/columnists/14511394.htm>.

Hay, W.P. 1904. A revision of Malaclemys, a genus of turtles. Bulletin of the
United States Bureau of Fisheries 24:1–19.

Hildebrand, S.F. 1929. Review of experiments on artificial culture of Diamond-
back Terrapin. Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Fisheries 45:25–70.

Hildebrand, S.F. 1932. Growth of Diamond-back Terrapins, size attained, sex
ratio and longevity. Zoologica 9:551–563.

Hildebrand, S.F. 1933. Hybridizing Diamond-back Terrapins. Journal of
Heredity 24:231–238.

Hurd, L.E., G.W. Smedes, and T.A. Dean. 1979. An ecological study of a nat-
ural population of Diamondback Terrapins (Malaclemys t. terrapin) in a
Delaware salt marsh. Estuaries 2:28–33.

Lorant, S. 1946. The New World: The First Pictures of America. Duell, Sloan, &
Pearce, New York.

84 IGUANA  •  VOLUME 15, NUMBER 2  •  JUNE 2008 SCHAFFER, WOOD, NORTON, AND SCHAFFER

Mortality attributable directly or indirectly to human activities appears to be exceeding the species’ reproductive capacity. 

PE
TE

R
 K

IN
G



IGUANA  •  VOLUME 15, NUMBER 2  •  JUNE 2008 85TERRAPINS

McCauley R.H. 1945. The Reptiles of Maryland and the District of Columbia.
Published by the author, Hagerstown, Maryland.

Ner, S.E. 2003. Distribution and predation of Diamondback Terrapin nests at
six upland islands of Jamaica Bay and Sandy Hook Unit, Gateway National
Area. Unpublished M.S. Thesis, Hofstra University, Hemstead, New York.

Pelton, T. 2006. Farm points way out of turtle trap. Baltimore Sun, 1 November
2006.

Pritchard, P.C.H. 1979. Encyclopedia of Turtles. TFH Publications Inc.,
Neptune, New Jersey.

Radzio, T.A. and W.M. Roosenburg. 2005. Diamondback Terrapin mortality
in the American Eel pot fishery and evaluation of a bycatch reduction
device. Estuaries 28:620–626.

Roosenberg, W.M. 1991. The Diamondback Terrapin: Habitat requirements,
population dynamics and opportunities for conservation, pp. 227–234. In:
A. Chaney and J.A. Mihursky (eds.), New Perspectives in the Chesapeake
System: A Research and Management Partnership. Proceedings of a Conference.
Chesapeake Research Consortium Publication No. 137, Maryland.

Roosenberg, W.M., W. Cresko, M. Modesitte, and M.B. Robbins. 1997.
Diamondback Terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin) mortality in crab pots.
Conservation Biology 2:1166–1172.

Rudloe, J. 1979. Time of the Turtle. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.

Schoepff, J.D. 1792–1801. Historia Testudinum Iconibus Illustrata. J.J. Palm,
Erlangae.

Schoepff, J.D. 1792–1801. Naturgeschichte der Schildkröten mit Abbildungen
Erläutert. J.J. Palm, Erlangae.

Seigel, R.A. 1980. Predation by raccoons on Diamondback Terrapins,
Malaclemys terrapin tequesta. Journal of Herpetology 14:87–89.

Seigel, R.A. and J.W. Gibbons. 1995. Workshop on the ecology, status, and
management of the Diamondback Terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin),
Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, 2 August 1994: Final Results and
Recommendations. Chelonian Conservation and Biology 1:240–243.

True, F.W. 1884. Useful aquatic reptiles and batrachians of the United States,
pp. 137–162. In: G.B. Goode et al. (eds.), The Fisheries and Fishery
Industries of the United States. Section 1, part 2. U.S. Commission on
Fisheries, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.

True, F. W. 1887. The turtle and terrapin fisheries, pp. 493–503. In: G.B.
Goode et al. (eds.), The Fisheries and Fishery Industries of the United States.
Section 5, volume 2, part XIX. U.S. Commission on Fisheries,
Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.

Watters, C. and R.C. Wood. 2003. Large Scale Mortality of Diamondback
Terrapins (Malaclemys terrapin terrapin) as the Result of Drowning in
Commercial Crab Traps. Abstract, Second International Congress on
Chelonian Conservation. 18–22 June 2003, Dakar, Sénégal.

Whilden, M. 2007. Always look a gift terrapin on the plastron. Turtle and
Tortoise Newsletter 11:23–25.

Wood, R.C. and R. Herlands. 1997. Turtles and tires: The impact of roadkills
on Northern Diamondback Terrapin, Malaclemys terrapin terrapin, pop-
ulations on the Cape May Peninsula, southern New Jersey, USA, pp.
46–53. In: J. Van Abbema (ed.), Proceedings: Conservation, Restoration,
and Management of Tortoises and Turtles – An International Conference.
New York Turtle and Tortoise Society, New York.

Exo Terra is a global leader in innovative naturalistic terrarium products and a proud supporter of many reptile-related conservation endeav-
ors, including those of the IRCF (www.eco-terra.com/en/explore/conservation.php).

Notice!
2008 Guatemalan 

Fieldtrip and Excursion
10–17 October 

Visit the IRCF website for details: 
www.IRCF.org/projectheloderma/Fieldtrip2008.php 




