Alabama Map Turtle

Snapshot

A Mobile Bay drainage map turtle — females large-headed (to ~11.5 inches), males much smaller. In Georgia, only a few rivers of the northwestern Coosa / Oostanaula / Conasauga system (Ridge and Valley). Georgia Rare (Rule 391-4-10). Leave alone.

Description and identification

SREL: dorsal keel (may wear with age). Juveniles: dark mid-stripe, concentric yellow marginal lines, large olive head mask, light chin-to-neck bar; light yellow plastron with darker seam lines. Males 3.5–5 in retain juvenile-like pattern; females 7–11.5 in, huge heads for crushing mollusks, often drab. Megacephaly in adult females is a strong field cue within the Coosa system.

Look-alikes

Barbour’s map turtle — Apalachicola / Flint–Chattahoochee system; different head-blotch geometry. Northern map turtle — co-occurs in northwestern Georgia Coosa waters; shallower keel without big spines, triangular postorbital blotch, J-shaped neck line. Drainage plus head marks matter more than casual shell color.

Range in Georgia

Confined to the Mobile Bay drainage (AL, GA, FL, MS, possibly LA). In Georgia, occurrence is northwestern — Coosa / Oostanaula / Conasauga rivers of the Ridge and Valley — not northeastern Georgia (SREL’s “northeastern” wording is geographically misleading for Georgia). May co-occur with northern map turtle in Coosa waters.

Habitat preferences

Large rivers and streams — muddy rivers to rocky streams; lotic water with basking logs and brush piles. Juveniles and males use shallows; females prefer deeper areas where mollusk prey is available.

Natural history

Juveniles and males bask on logs in shallows; large females use deeper channels. Extreme sexual size and diet dimorphism: mollusk-crushing females versus insect-heavy males and juveniles. River-system endemism means local declines are hard to reverse — siltation and impoundment threaten both turtles and their mussel prey.

Food preferences

Females: snails and mollusks; males and juveniles: more aquatic insects (SREL). Intact native mollusk beds support large females.

Temperament and encounters

Rare Georgia periphery species — observe from bank or boat only; never collect.

Conservation and legal notes

Listed as Rare in Georgia under current Rule 391-4-10 (matches SREL). Protected in Alabama; special concern in Mississippi. River-system endemism raises extirpation risk. Soft note: a 2026 draft list has proposed elevating some statuses — do not treat proposed changes as adopted until the Board acts.

In Georgia, native turtles are wildlife. Many species are protected nongame animals; some are state- and/or federally listed. Possession, take, sale, and nesting-beach disturbance rules are species-specific — check current Georgia DNR and USFWS guidance before any collection or relocation. Do not invent statutes. Roads, habitat loss, bycatch, and illegal collection drive many declines. Educational observation from a distance is the default.

If you meet one

Give the animal room. Do not pick up wild turtles except to move one safely off a road in the direction it was traveling (never relocate to a new wetland). Do not dig into nests or burrows. Keep dogs from chasing wildlife. Report injured or stranded sea turtles and listed freshwater species through current Georgia DNR / sea-turtle stranding channels. Local educators — including community resources around Cartersville such as Etowah Valley Exotics when appropriate — can help with distant photo ID. This profile is educational, not a husbandry or collecting guide.