Natural History of the Ornate Box Turtle, Terrapene ornata ornata Agassiz by Legler

The ornate box turtle, _Terrapene o. ornata_ Agassiz, was studied more or less continuously from September, 1953, until July, 1957. Intensive field studies were made of free-living, marked populations in two small areas of Douglas County, Kansas, in the period 1954 to 1956. Laboratory studies were made, whenever possible, of phenomena difficult to observe in the field, or to clarify or substantiate field observations. Certain phases of the work (for example, studies of populations and movements) were based almost entirely on field observation whereas other phases (for example, growth and gametogenic cycles) were carried out almost entirely within the laboratory on specimens obtained from eastern Kansas and other localities.

A taxonomic revision of the genus _Terrapene_ was begun in 1956 as an outgrowth of the present study. The systematic status of _T. ornata_ and other species is here discussed only briefly.

Objectives of the study here reported on were: 1) to learn as much as possible concerning the habits, adaptations, and life history of _T. o. ornata_; 2) to compare the information thus acquired with corresponding information on other emyid and testudinid chelonians, and especially with that on other species and subspecies of _Terrapene_; 3) to determine what factors limit the geographic distribution of ornate box turtles; and, 4) to determine the role of ornate box turtles in an ecological community.