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The common box turtle (''Terrapene carolina'') is a species of box turtle with six existing subspecies. It is found throughout the eastern United States and Mexico. The box turtle has a distinctive hinged lowered shell (the box) that allows it to completely enclose itself. Its upper jaw is long and curved. The turtle is primarily terrestrial and eats a wide variety of plants and animals. The females lay their eggs in the summer. Turtles in the northern part of their range hibernate over the winter. Common box turtle numbers are declining because of habitat loss, roadkill, and capture for the pet trade. The species is classified as Vulnerable to threats to its survival by the IUCN Red List. Three U.S. states name subspecies of the common box turtle as their official reptile. == Classification == ''Terrapene carolina'' was first described by Linnaeus in 1758. It is the type species for the ''Terrapene'' genus and also has more subspecies than the other three species within that genus. The eastern box turtle subspecies was the one recognized by Linnaeus. The other five subspecies were first classified during the 19th century.〔 In addition, one extinct subspecies ''T. c. putnamii'' is distinguished.〔 ;Subspecies Parentheses around the name of an authority indicate that he originally described the subspecies in a genus other than ''Terrapene''. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「common box turtle」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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