Alligator snapping turtle (Macroclemys temminckii): habitat selection, movements, and natural history in Southeast Kansas.

Abstract

I studied the behavior, habitat selection, and diel/seasonal movements of the only known living wild alligator snapping turtle (Macroclemys temminckii) in Kansas via biotelemetry. After an adult female specimen was captured by anglers in a small southeast Kansas creek in 1991, I fitted this 24.7 kg turtle with ultrasonic transmitters and released it at the site of capture. The turtle moved upstream 6.5 km during the one year study, occupying ten different core sites. I measured habitat characteristics to evaluate hydrological, substratum, structural, and cover aspects at core sites, at 35 other available sites with cover, and at 361 systematically located transect sites in the creek. Habitat used by the turtle was significantly different from available habitat. Core sites had more cover, mud, detritus, and pool habitat than did transect sites, and more mud than other available sites with cover. Possible behavioral interactions with the common snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina) were also noted. I also investigated conservation status of the alligator snapping turtle in Kansas by sampling 12 historical sites and 72 other possible sites of occurrence in southeast Kansas rivers and streams. Although I collected 1002 turtles of eight different species, I captured no alligator snapping turtles. Herein, I review natural history information pertaining to alligator snapping turtles in Kansas, and make recommendations concerning the conservation status of this species in the state.