United States
£ GBP
Turtle remains frequently recovered in faunal material from archaeological excavations consist mainly of pieces of shell. Unfortunately, because the shell commonly breaks into many tiny pieces which have been previously deemed difficult to classify, turtle remains are usually not identified to family, genus, or species. This atlas provides a visual and descriptive guide of the carapacial, plastral, cranial, and postcranial osteology of extant turtles of the United States. Distinguishing characteristics are illustrated for identification to the familiar and generic levels for Chrysemys, Graptemys, Clemmys, Terrapene, Emydoidea, Deirochelys, Malaclemys, Gopherus, Kinosternon, Sternotherus, Chelydra, Macroclemys, and Trionyx. Examples of archaeological turtle bone are also provided in hopes of facilitating the identification of turtle bone remains from archaeological sites.
