In the early 1900s, Diamondback Terrapins were hunted to make turtle soup. Overharvesting depleted or eliminated many turtle colonies.
The diamondback terrapin is found all along the Atlantic Coast, from southern Massachusetts to Florida, as well as along the Gulf Coast.
The Northern Diamondback Terrapin is an inhabitant of the salt marsh. Females nest in dry, sandy areas, such as unvegetated dunes.
Buttonwood Park Zoo participates in a conservation project to increase the Diamondback population along Buzzards Bay and Cape Cod.
The adult female is larger than the male, ranging from 6 to 9 inches long. The male is 4 to 6 inches long. The male, though, has a longer tail. The average male weighs a little over a pound, while large females have been known to weight more than 4 pounds.
The name come from the diamond-shaped designs on its greenish-brown shell. The skin is usually green or brown, often marked with black and white color patterns.
Diamondback terrapins have webbed feet, adapted for swimming, and sharp claws that allow them to climb up muddy banks.
Like most turtles, diamondbacks are carnivorous, although they occasionally eat bits of salt marsh grass.
Terrapins feed on marine worms, mollusks, crustaceans, and small fish.
During winter, terrapins hibernate on the bottom of the estuary or in marsh channels. On warm days, large groups of Terrapins crawl up on the marsh banks to rest in the sunshine.
Mating takes place shortly afterward. In early summer, the female terrapins dig nests above the high-tide level in sand dunes on barrier islands, river banks, or the sandy margin of the marsh.
A clutch may contain anywhere from 4 to 18 light pink eggs. The incubation period ranges from 60 to more than 100 days, depending on temperature. The newly-hatched terrapins are only about an inch long.
Young terrapins may live upstream in brackish creeks for several years, eventually moving down into the salt marshes. They grow rapidly in the first couple years of life and reach adult size at about 5 or 6 years of age for males and 8 to 10 years for females.
The average life span is unknown, but it's believed to be about 40 years.