Editing Spotted turtle (section)

{{Short description|Species of turtle}}
{{use dmy dates|cs1-dates=yy|date=August 2021}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Spotted Turtle Virginia March 2023.jpg
| image_caption= A spotted turtle in [[Virginia]].
| status = EN
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name=iucn/>
| status2 = CITES_A2
| status2_system = CITES
| status2_ref = <ref name="CITES">{{Cite web|title=Appendices {{!}} CITES|url=https://cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php|access-date=2022-01-14|website=cites.org}}</ref>
| genus = Clemmys
| parent_authority =
| species = guttata
| authority = ([[Johann Gottlob Schneider|Schneider]], 1792)<ref name=Rhodin000104/>
| range_map = Spotted turtle distribution 1.TIF
| synonyms = {{collapsible list|bullets=true
 |title=<small>Genus synonymy</small><ref name=Rhodin000104/>
 |'''''Clemmys''''' <small><br />[[Ferdinand August Maria Franz von Ritgen|Ritgen]], 1828</small>
 |''Chelopus'' <small><br />[[Constantine Samuel Rafinesque|Rafinesque]], 1832</small>
 |''Nanemys'' <small><br />[[Louis Agassiz|Agassiz]], 1857</small>
 |''Melanemys'' <small><br />Shufeldt, 1919</small>
}}
 {{collapsible list|bullets=true
 |title=<small>Species synonymy</small><ref name=Rhodin000104/>
 |''Testudo guttata''<br /><small>Schneider, 1792</small>
 |''Testudo punctata''<br /><small>[[Johann David Schoepf|Schoepff]], 1792</small>
 |''Geoclemmys sebae''<br /><small>[[John Edward Gray|Gray]], 1869</small>
}}
}}

The '''spotted turtle''' ('''''Clemmys guttata'''''), the only species of the genus ''[[Clemmys]]'', is a small, semi-aquatic [[turtle]] that reaches a carapace length of {{convert|8|-|12|cm|in|abbr=on}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/subsite/glfc-amphibians/clemmys-guttata |title=Spotted Turtle (Clemmys guttata) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090421133242/http://cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/subsite/glfc-amphibians/clemmys-guttata |archive-date=2009-04-21 |url-status=dead |website=Natural Resources Canada}}</ref> upon adulthood. Their broad, smooth, low dark-colored upper shell, or [[carapace]], ranges in its exact colour from black to a bluish black with a number of tiny yellow round spots. The spotting patterning extends from the head, to the neck and out onto the limbs. Sexually mature males have a concave [[plastron]] and a long, thick tail. By contrast, sexually mature females possess a flat plastron and have a tail that is noticeably shorter and thinner than that of mature males. Mature males also have a dark iris and face; females typically have a yellow or orange iris and a similarly coloured face that is distinctly lighter than the males'. Juveniles appear female-like in this regard, and at maturity males begin to develop darker features.

Spotted turtles are aquatic omnivores that inhabit a variety of semi-aquatic or in other words, shallow, fresh-water areas such as flooded forests, marshes, wet meadows, bogs and woodland streams in southern [[Canada]] ([[Ontario]]) and the eastern [[United States|US]]: the eastern [[Great Lakes]] and east of the [[Appalachian Mountains]].<ref name="BDHMaine">{{cite journal |last1=Beaudry |first1=F. |last2=DeMaynadier |first2=P. G. |last3=Hunter |first3=M. L. Jr. |year=2009 |title=Seasonally Dynamic Habitat Use by Spotted (''Clemmys guttata'') and Blanding's Turtles (''Emydoidea blandingii'') in Maine |journal=Journal of Herpetology |volume=43 |issue=4 |pages=636–645 |doi=10.1670/08-127.1 |s2cid=86573950 }}</ref>