Surveys of Basking Turtles in the Rivers of Northeastern Oklahoma, with Emphasis on Graptemys geographica (Common Map Turtle)

Abstract

I used binoculars and a spotting scope with a built-in digital camera to survey basking turtles at 29 sites on tributary drainages of the Arkansas River in four counties of northeastern Oklahoma and one county of southeastern Kansas. The predominant species recorded were Graptemys ouachitensis (Ouachita map turtle; 57% of all turtles) and Trachemys scripta (slider turtle; 25%), typical of results for rivers with similar assemblages of turtle species in the central United States. There were two notable results of the surveys. First, I photographed a male Graptemys geographica (common map turtle) twice at a site on the Spring River in Ottawa County; the record is only the third locality reported for the species in Oklahoma and is the first vouchered locality since the initial report of the species in Oklahoma in 1927. Prospects for finding additional localities for G. geographica in eastern Oklahoma are discussed, based on records in adjacent Kansas, Arkansas, and Missouri. Second, I observed Apalone spinifera (spiny softshell) at a higher frequency compared to basking turtle surveys that have been conducted elsewhere within its range. ©2014 Oklahoma Academy of Science