You won't spot the spotted turtle much longer

This endangered reptile battles the city of Chicago for land space. But the developing area prevails over the small speckled creature.

By:

Em-j Staples

Thursday, November 19, 2009 - 17:01

Photo: Center for Reptile and Amphibian Conservation and Management

The spotted turtle seems to have run out of good luck. The endangered reptile picked the wrong land area to call home, and today is suffering the consequences.

"Unfortunately for them, their natural range clips the rural northeastern portion of Illinois. That's where the city of Chicago is now," said Dr. Chris Phillips, professor at the University of Illinois Natural History Survey.

The species settled in rural northern Illinois before Chicago developed into the city that it is today. Now the spotted turtle can only be found in two locations in Will County, Ill.

"We've done research on the two populations over the last five years and the data on birth rates doesn't look all that good. Our model suggests a 50/50 chance they'll be gone in the next 50 years," said Phillips.

The small, semi-aquatic turtle gets its name from its yellow-orange spots on the shell and limbs. They're small, reaching a grown carapace of 12.5 cm. The spotted turtle often gets confused with the midwest's most popular turtle, the painted turtle.

However, unlike the painted turtle, the spotted turtle has become endangered in the last 10 years.

"There are a lot of endangered species in Illinois. I could easily give you three or four different answers, but an endangered species in Illinois that we've seen in the last 10 years is the spotted turtle," said Phillips.

The spotted turtle population extends beyond the Great Lakes region to the eastern coastline, found in every state between Maine and Florida.

Yet here in the land of Lincoln, our polka-dotted reptile friends just face bad luck, and there's nothing we humans can do to help.

"The only thing we can do now is restoration. But in Chicago, you can't take a Wal-Mart or a Hyatt and turn it into a marsh, that's not possible. Population wise, their numbers are too small and there's not enough land for them," said Phillips.

The turtles' absence doesn't take a huge hit on the ecosystem, but the forest preserves sure do miss them.

"Spotted turtles don't play a vital role in the ecosystem today. They aren't like snakes maintaining rodent population control or anything, but there is the absence atheistic. If you're walking in the marsh, their presence isn't there anymore," he said.