The Mississippi map turtle (Graptemys pseudogeographica kohni) is a subspecies of the False map turtle belonging to the family Emydidae. It is endemic to the central United States.
Map turtles are also known "sawback" turtles because their carapaces feature a vertebral row of low spines, and are serrated on the posterior rim. The grey shells of Mississippi map turtles are covered in yellow lines and resemble contour lines. Their eyes can be brown, light yellow, white, or green and are crossed with a dark bar.
Mississippi map turtles are found in the central United States along the Mississippi River and its tributaries, from Illinois and Missouri southward. They live in lakes, rivers, ponds, large streams, and creeks, and sometimes may occur in marshes.
Map turtles spend all their lives in the water and are strong swimmers. When not foraging, they spend many hours during the day basking in the sun. They are very shy in their nature and will quickly hide in the water if disturbed. When with other turtles, they also are very communal, sharing space and using each other for predator-watching, increasing the odds of surviving an attack.
Mississippi map turtles are omnivores. They feed primarily on aquatic insects and will also take a wide variety of small animal prey including bivalves, larvae, and some aquatic plants.
Mississippi map turtles breed in spring and during this time females may produce up to 4 clutches. Each clutch contains 6-8 eggs which hatch between July and early September. Males of this species become reproductively mature at the age of 3-4 years while females are ready to breed when they are 6-8 years old.
Map turtles are not considered threatened at present but they suffer from the loss of nesting sites, water pollution, and destruction of nests and eggs by animals and insects. They also fall victim to gill nets, frequently shot and collected for the pet trade.
The IUCN Red List and other sources don’t provide the number of the Mississippi map turtle total population size. Currently, this species is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List.
