Species #45: Arizona mud turtle (Kinosternon arizonense)
Location: Southern Arizona
Date: 3 October 2017
Species #46: Sonoyta mud turtle (Kinosternon sonoriense longifemorale)
Location: Quitobaquito Springs, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument (Arizona)
Date: 4 October 2017
Species #47: Sonoran desert tortoise (Gopherus morafkai)
Location: North of Phoenix, Arizona
Date: 5 October 2017
Post by George L. Heinrich
It was my third trip to southern Arizona, all of which were during the past five years and for turtle-related reasons. I was returning this time to search for three species still needed for The Big Turtle Year (TBTY) and was particularly excited because the trip offered a chance to see two species of mud turtles which occur on both sides of the international border. In addition, we needed to find a Sonoran desert tortoise (Gopherus morafkai) which would complete the four U.S. species in the family Testudinidae. Cristina A. Jones (Turtles Project Coordinator, Arizona Game and Fish Department) and I had planned this trip for several months. We were originally scheduled to do this part of TBTY two months earlier, but complications (see Update #14) forced us to postpone the trip. Perhaps it was for the best because our delayed trip was smooth as glass, in large part due to Cristina’s knowledge of Arizona turtles and her admirable organizational skills. To her, I am most grateful. An added bonus to the trip was access to great Mexican food of which I am a fan.
Cristina A. Jones (Turtles Project Coordinator, Arizona Game and Fish Department) holding an Arizona mud turtle (Kinosternon arizonense) in southern Arizona. Photograph by George L. Heinrich.
One of many authentic Mexican restaurants visited during the trip. Photograph by George L. Heinrich.
While it’s true that Arizona is less species rich (only seven species from three families) than southeastern states, it is clear that Arizona is a player in the turtle conservation game. Three species require management and conservation programs, including international cooperative efforts with Mexico. Further, there are three non-native species established in the state. The Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) is involved with many aspects of turtle conservation and plays an important role in conserving regional species. For a full list of Arizona’s turtle species, please visit the website listed at the end of this blog.
Saguaro cactus (Carnegiea gigantea) in a typical Arizona landscape. Photograph by George L. Heinrich.
Arizona is home to a desert form of the ornate box turtle (Terrapene ornata), a species that I had already seen in Illinois (see Update #10). Cristina is developing a box turtle monitoring program to learn more about management and conservation needs in Arizona. I joined a group of 15 bird dog hunters and their wonderful dogs, plus 22 turtle handling volunteers in eastern Arizona for a scaled quail (Callipepla squamata)/desert box turtle (T. o. luteola) survey at a private grassland habitat restoration site. These dogs are bred and trained to hunt game birds, love doing so, and have shown some promise of finding turtles. I was on a transect line with Cristina, Wade Zarlingo (Small Game Program Manager, AZGFD) and his dog Shilo, a beautiful Pudelpointer, a breed developed in Germany in the late 1800s. Shilo found quail, but no box turtles on that day. Our team did, however, find box turtle tracks at a cattle pond. A bird dog working with a team on another transect line located the single box turtle of the day.
Wade Zarlingo (Small Game Program Manager, AZGFD) and Cristina A. Jones during a scaled quail (Callipepla squamata)/desert box turtle (Terrapene o. luteola) survey in semidesert grassland located in eastern Arizona. Photograph by George L. Heinrich.
Wade Zarlingo with Shilo during fieldwork in eastern Arizona. Photograph by George L. Heinrich.
Shilo in a cattle pond in semidesert grassland in eastern Arizona (note desert box turtle tracks). Photograph by George L. Heinrich.
Adult desert box turtle (Terrapene o. luteola) located by a second bird dog during a survey in semidesert grassland in eastern Arizona. Photograph by J. Ehrenberger.
One has to travel to southern Arizona or Sonora, Mexico in order to see the desert-adapted Arizona mud turtle (Kinosternon arizonense). Little is known about this species, so Mike Jones of the American Turtle Observatory (www.americanturtles.org) has initiated a pilot project which involves trapping in cattle ponds, marking individuals, collecting morphometric data, and radio-tracking individuals. We joined Chelsea Mahnk, a field biologist with the American Turtle Observatory, to learn about fieldwork being conducted on federal land along the international border. While there, we captured two adult males in baited, collapsible traps and radiotracked a third turtle to a kangaroo rat (Dipodomys sp.) burrow. That was species #45 for TBTY. I really enjoyed spending the day at that remote and wild location, and hope to have the opportunity to return. Our visit to this site reinforced my fondness for the borderlands.
Arizona mud turtle (Kinosternon arizonense) habitat in southern Arizona. Note traps set in pond. Photograph by George L. Heinrich.
Chelsea Mahnk (Field Biologist, American Turtle Observatory) setting a trap in a cattle pond in southern Arizona. Photograph by George L. Heinrich.
Adult male Arizona mud turtle (Kinosternon arizonense) captured at the American Turtle Observatory study site located in southern Arizona. Photograph by George L. Heinrich.
George L. Heinrich taking measurements from an adult male Arizona mud turtle (Kinosternon arizonense) in southern Arizona. Photograph by Cristina A. Jones.
Cristina A. Jones and George L. Heinrich with an adult male Arizona mud turtle (Kinosternon arizonense) captured in southern Arizona. Photograph by Chelsea Mahnk.
Chelsea Mahnk radiotracking Arizona mud turtles (Kinosternon arizonense) at a study site in southern Arizona. Photograph by George L. Heinrich.
Chelsea Mahnk tracked one turtle to a kangaroo rat (Dipodomys sp.) burrow at the American Turtle Observatory study site in southern Arizona. Photograph by George L. Heinrich.
Chelsea Mahnk releasing an Arizona mud turtle (Kinosternon arizonense) at a cattle pond in southern Arizona. Photograph by George L. Heinrich.
The second mud turtle species, the Sonora mud turtle (Kinosternon sonoriense) is represented by two subspecies, is more widely-distributed in the United States than the Arizona mud turtle, and also occurs in Sonora and Chihuahua, Mexico. I had waited five years to see a wild Sonoyta mud turtle (Kinosternon sonoriense longifemorale), ever since seeing captive specimens of this subspecies being held off-exhibit at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson. This desert-adapted, geographically isolated subspecies is only known from one location in the U.S., Quitobaquito Springs in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. A pair of springs feeds a 0.5 acre pond and the drainage flows south into Mexico where the subspecies occurs at four locations, including the Rio Sonoyta. Recent reports state that the river is drying and these mud turtles are concentrated in very small pools making them vulnerable to predators and potential desiccation.
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument (Arizona), home to the only population of Sonoyta mud turtles (Kinosternon sonoriense longifemorale) in the United States. Photograph by George L. Heinrich.
Sonoyta mud turtle (Kinosternon sonoriense longifemorale) habitat (0.5 acre pond) at Quitobaquito Springs in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument (Arizona). Photograph by George L. Heinrich.
Small creek that feeds into a pond at Quitobaquito Springs. Photograph by George L. Heinrich.
Charles Conner (Biotech, National Park Service) checking a hoop net trap for turtles at Quitobaquito Springs. Photograph by George L. Heinrich.
Charles Conner measuring a Sonoyta mud turtle (Kinosternon sonoriense longifemorale) at Quitobaquito Springs. Photograph by George L. Heinrich.
Peter Holm (Ecologist, National Park Service) weighing a Sonoyta mud turtle (Kinosternon sonoriense longifemorale) at Quitobaquito Springs. Photograph by George L. Heinrich.
Adult Sonoyta mud turtle (Kinosternon sonoriense longifemorale) at Quitobaquito Springs. Photograph by George L. Heinrich.
Researcher photographing a hatchling Sonoyta mud turtle (Kinosternon sonoriense longifemorale) at Quitobaquito Springs. Photograph by George L. Heinrich.
Juvenile Sonoyta mud turtle (Kinosternon sonoriense longifemorale) at Quitobaquito Springs. Photograph by George L. Heinrich.
Quitobaquito Springs has been under the authority of the National Park Service (NPS) since 1957 and has been the site of intensive mud turtle studies by NPS since 1982. A total of 46 individuals were captured on the day that we visited the site and the most recent population estimate is 182 individuals. Much thanks to Tyler Coleman (Wildlife Biologist, NPS) and Charles Conner (Biotech, NPS) for making it possible for me to see this rare U.S. subspecies, participate in the survey, and get species #46 for TBTY. Daren Riedle and co-workers published a detailed report on the conservation status of this endemic kinosternid (Riedle et al. 2012). Of note, the Sonoyta mud turtle was federally listed as Endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on 20 October 2017. No doubt, international management and conservation efforts are critical to the long-term survival of this subspecies.
Cristina A. Jones holding a Sonoyta mud turtle (Kinosternon sonoriense longifemorale) at Quitobaquito Springs in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument (Arizona). Photograph by George L. Heinrich.
Tyler Coleman (Wildlife Biologist, NPS) and George L. Heinrich with a Sonoyta mud turtle (Kinosternon sonoriense longifemorale) at Quitobaquito Springs. Photograph by Cristina A. Jones.
Vehicle barrier along the border at Quitobaquito Springs in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument (Arizona). Mexico Highway 2 can be seen in the distance. Photograph by George L. Heinrich.
This trip also provided a welcome opportunity to visit with my longtime friend and colleague, Audrey Owens. Employed by AZGFD since 2007, Audrey has worked with Sonoran desert tortoises, Sonora mud turtles, and desert box turtles. She now serves as the agency’s Ranid Frogs Project Coordinator. Audrey, Hunter McCall (Wildlife Specialist, AZGFD), and I visited a creek north of Phoenix where we set a series of baited, collapsible traps in the hopes of trapping the nominate subspecies of the Sonora mud turtle (K. s. sonoriense), but came up empty-handed. This time, just knowing that wild turtles were present was enough and our visit to the creek was enjoyable nonetheless.
Audrey Owens (now Ranid Frogs Project Coordinator, AZGFD) and George L. Heinrich at Saguaro National Park in 2012. Photograph by Timothy J. Walsh.
Collapsible trap set in Sonora mud turtle (K. s. sonoriense) habitat north of Phoenix, Arizona. Photograph by George L. Heinrich.
Hunter McCall (Wildlife Specialist, AZGFD) setting a collapsible trap in Sonora mud turtle (K. s. sonoriense) habitat north of Phoenix, Arizona. Photograph by George L. Heinrich.
When one thinks about Arizona, desert habitat obviously comes to mind. Two desert tortoise species occur in the state, which is something that no other U.S. state can claim. In Arizona, the Sonoran desert tortoise occurs east of the Colorado River, whereas the Mojave desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) ranges west of that river. The Sonoran desert tortoise also ranges south into Mexico. Formerly considered one species, Gopherus agassizii was split by Robert Murphy and colleagues (Murphy et al. 2011). You can also learn more about both species by visiting the Desert Tortoise Council’s website at www.deserttortoise.org.
To get our third species for the trip and #47 for the TBTY, Cristina and I joined Dr. Brian Sullivan (Arizona State University) and his students at a Sonoran desert tortoise study site located just north of Phoenix. Using radiotelemetry, we located a female tortoise sheltered in a relatively small cavern in caliche (accumulation of calcium carbonate that forms on the soil of arid regions). Thank you to Dr. Sullivan for assisting us with documenting the fourth and final tortoise species needed for The Big Turtle Year. Before leaving the site, we also had an opportunity to radiotrack adult regal horned lizards (Phrynosoma regalis), a second reptile species that Dr. Sullivan and his students are studying. These lizards are harvester ant specialists and expectedly their scat consists of dozens of dried up ant bodies.
Sonoran desert tortoise (Gopherus morafkai) habitat at a study site located north of Phoenix, Arizona. Photograph by George L. Heinrich.
Dr. Brian Sullivan (Arizona State University) radiotracking a Sonoran desert tortoise (Gopherus morafkai) at his long-term study site. Photograph by George L. Heinrich.
George L. Heinrich photographing a Sonoran desert tortoise (Gopherus morafkai) in a caliche shelter. Photograph by Ryan Clark.
Adult Sonoran desert tortoise (Gopherus morafkai) located by radiotracking. Note transmitter attached to carapace. Photograph by George L. Heinrich.
Adult regal horned lizard (Phrynosoma regalis) at a desert study site located north of Phoenix, Arizona. Transmitter attached by adhesive glue. Photograph by George L. Heinrich.
To learn more about Arizona turtles and other herps, please visit the “Online Field Guide to The Reptiles and Amphibians of Arizona” by Thomas C. Brennan and Andrew T. Holycross. A book titled “A Field Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles in Arizona” published in 2009 by the same authors is also available via that website. While I have a number of favorite locations for observing turtles in the U.S., Arizona is high on my list. I already look forward to my next visit.
I want to once again thank our generous financial sponsors and project partners for making The Big Turtle Year possible. This has certainly been a team project and quite a big year. Stay tuned as there is more to come!