Conservation Status: Protected (FWCA); Special Concern (SARA; COSEWIC)

Size: 27 cm (11 ”)/13 cm (5”) (females/males)

Defining feature(s): Map turtles are dark green with unique patterns on the neck and shell that resemble the contour lines on a topographic map.  The carapace is low and wide with a serrated margin toward the posterior.

Other features: The head appears bulky due to large jaw muscles used to crush molluscs.  Males have unusually long claws on the forelimbs.

Habitat: Map turtles prefer large bodies of water where they are known to swim great distances over the course of the summer.  They are most often seen basking on rocks and logs in the water and they are particularly nervous when approached.  Basking individuals quickly enter the water when disturbed.

Reproduction: Breeding is known to occur in spring and fall for this species.  Spring breeding results in egg laying in June or July while females that breed in the fall are more likely to lay eggs in May or June.  Nests are usually within a few hundred metres of the water and incubation lasts for 50 to 70 days after which 6 to as many as 20 hatchlings emerge and make their way to the water.