Conservation and Research: Much of southern Ontario has been developed with what small pockets of green space remaining having been heavily explored and studied, looking at what species are present and how they survive with fragmentation. Despite this, new discoveries are still being found. One of these is the eastern musk turtle, while this species is known in many areas in southern Ontario, this particular individual was found in a location where they were not previously recorded prior. While doing field work in a patch of European reed and alder, the team came across a lake along the edge of our survey area. The team scanned the edge of the reeds in the lake. A small turtle in the muck was flushed by those walking through, turning up the sediment. Another field tech noticed a small shell in the water, the smooth carapace appeared like a painted turtle until it was picked up. The thoughts of snapping turtle went through the field tech’s mind but it was soon clear that this was something different.
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Sources:
"Eastern Musk Turtle." Ontario Nature, 2022, ontarionature.org/programs/community-science/reptile-amphibian-atlas/eastern-musk-turtle/. Accessed 4 Jan. 2022. |