← Herp Calendar map

Turtles

Northern Map Turtle

Graptemys geographica

Across the regions where it's common, the Northern Map Turtle peaks from May to August.

Shows up in 7 ecoregions and 16 states

Keep Herp Calendar free

Hi, I'm Nick. I built Herp Calendar on my own and I keep it free, with no ads. If it has helped you find a herp this season, a small tip goes straight into the hosting and the data work. Only if you can spare it. Either way, I'm glad you're here.

Leave a tip

Turtles

Northern Map Turtle

Graptemys geographica

Look, don't take. Many states regulate collecting reptiles and amphibians. Photograph it, log it on iNaturalist and leave it where you found it.

Description

The northern map turtle (Graptemys geographica), also known as the common map turtle, is an aquatic turtle in the family Emydidae. The plastron is yellowish and is marked by a central dark blotch (plastral figure) that follows the sutures of the plastral scutes and fades with age so that many adults lack a pattern all together (i.e., the plastron is immaculate).Wikipedia ↗

Habitat

Northern map turtles inhabit an area from south Quebec and Ontario to northern Vermont where it lives in the St. Lawrence River drainage basin. Its range extends west through the Great Lakes and into southern Wisconsin and eastern Minnesota, west of the Appalachians, south to Kansas and northwestern Georgia.Wikipedia ↗

When it's active

Northern map turtles spend the winter under water and do not surface to breathe, especially when ice cover makes this impossible. They typically bask in groups and are diurnal, meaning they are active exclusively in daylight hours.Wikipedia ↗
Peter Paplanus · CC BY 4.0

When and where it's active

Each row is its own calendar, counted from records in that area. Seasons shift by place.

PeakShoulderQuiet

Ecoregions

States

About the Northern Map Turtle

When is the Northern Map Turtle most active?

Across the regions where it's common, the Northern Map Turtle peaks from May to August.

Where does the Northern Map Turtle live?

It has enough records to show in 7 ecoregions and 16 states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, and Indiana.