A Prehistoric Record of Glyptemys muhlenbergii (Bog Turtle) in Central New York T. Cregg Madrigal* Abstract - Faunal remains from the Cole Gravel Pit archaeological site in Livingston County, NY, have been identified as Glyptemys (Clemmys) muhlenbergii (Bog Turtle). This is believed to be only the second prehistoric Holocene record of this species. Two Pleistocene records of Bog Turtle have also been previously reported. Based on archaeological remains, the human occupation of the Cole Gravel Pit site dates to approximately 3900 years B.P. and is associated with the Late Archaic Period. Cole Gravel Pit is in the general area of western New York state considered to be within the historic distribution of Bog Turtle, but modern live specimens of this species have not been discovered within Livingston County. A study of archaeological faunal remains excavated from the Cole Gravel Pit site (Madrigal 1999, 2006) resulted in the identification of eight carapace and plastron fragments as belonging to Glyptemys (Clemmys) muhlenbergii Schoepff (Bog Turtle). An earlier study of the archaeological faunal remains from this site (Brown et al. 1973) did not identify this species. The Cole Gravel Pit site (Hne 17-1), sometimes also known as Cole Quarry or Farrell Farm, is located in Caledonia Township, Livingston County, NY (42.977N, 77.739W). The site is situated on a terrace on the west bank of the Genesee River, about 18 m above the floodplain. Archaeological excavation at Cole Gravel Pit was undertaken by the Rochester Museum of Arts and Sciences (now the Rochester Museum and Science Center) during the 1960s following the recognition of archaeological features during commercial gravel stripping (Hayes 1966, Hayes and Bergs 1969, Madrigal 2006). Diagnostic artifacts and uncorrected radiocarbon dates of 3890 ± 120 B.P. and 3980 ± 160 B.P. date the site to the Late Archaic Period (Hayes and Berg 1969). Methods. Identification of archaeological turtle remains as Bog Turtle was made by comparison of size and morphology to modern specimens at the New Jersey State Museum and the New York State Museum. Useful anatomical characteristics for distinguishing the plastron of Bog Turtle from the similar but slightly larger Clemmys guttata Schneider (Spotted Turtle) include: 1) the location of the humeral-pectoral seam, which passes along the posterior margin of the entoplastron, or just posterior to the entoplastron, in Bog Turtles, but passes through the center of the entoplastron in Spotted Turtles; and 2) the xiphiplastral notch, which is well-developed, with the medial margins of the left and right xiphiplastron forming a more acute angle, in Bog Turtles, but is less developed in Spotted Turtles. These osteological distinctions have also been described by Bentley and Knight (1998) and Holman and Fritz (2001). All faunal remains from Cole Gravel Pit are curated at the Rochester Museum and Science Center, Rochester, NY. Results. Eight specimens from the Cole Gravel Pit, representing a minimum of four individuals, are identified as Bog Turtle. These include one nuchal bone and seven plastron fragments. The latter include two complete left hyoplastra, one complete entoplastron with attached left and right hyoplastra and hypoplastra (Fig. 1), one complete entoplastron with attached left and right epiplastra and anterior left hyoplastron, and one xiphiplastron with attached right hyoplastron and hypoplastron. The remaining two specimens are more tentatively identified as Bog Turtle: one right xiphiplastron with attached posterior hypoplastron, and a right hypoplastron and attached xiphiplastron. Notes of the Northeastern Nat u ral ist, Issue 15/2, 2008 309 310 Northeastern Naturalist Notes Vol. 15, No. 2 Bog Turtle remains were found in five (feature numbers 75, 96, 176, 214, and 221) of the 297 prehistoric pit features excavated at Cole Gravel Pit. These five pit features had straight to slightly sloping sides, flat or slightly concave bottoms, and ranged in depth from 56 to 123 cm. Pit fill varied, but generally consisted of sand, gravel, and lenses of orange clay, ash, or charcoal. Other inclusions comprised stone tools, animal bone fragments, and freshwater mussel shells. Most features are interpreted as human-dug pits used as earth ovens and/or for food storage. Additional turtle species identified from the Cole Gravel Pit site are Spotted Turtle, Sternotherus odoratus Latreille (Stinkpot), Chelydra serpentina Linnaeus (Snapping Turtle), Chrysemys picta Schneider (Painted Turtle), Terrapene carolina Linnaeus (Common Box Turtle), and Apalone spinifera Lesueur (Spiny Softshell Turtle). Spotted Turtle is represented at the Cole Gravel Pit by eight specimens, from at least four individuals, from eight different features. Three of these features also contain Bog Turtle (feature numbers 176, 214, and 221). An additional 14 specimens may be from either Bog Turtle or Spotted Turtle (these were originally identified by Madrigal [1999], prior to the revision of the generic name of the Bog Turtle [Crother et al. 2003, Holman and Fritz 2001], as Clemmys sp.). Discussion.There are three previous identifications of Bog Turtle from archaeological or paleontological deposits. The only other prehistoric Holocene record of Bog Turtle is from an archaeological site on Ellis Island, NY, where 11 specimens have been identified (Tonya Largy, Peabody Museum, Cambridge, MA, pers. comm.; Rhodin 1995). A single specimen was identified from the Cumberland Bone Cave, Allegany County, MD (Holman 1977) that dates to the Middle to Late Pleistocene Irvingtonian II (Holman 1977, Holman and Fritz 2001). A partial carapace and plastron as well as four isolated Bog Turtle elements were identified from the Ardis local fauna, a Late Pleistocene locality on the coastal plain of South Carolina near Harleyville, Dorchester County (Bentley and Knight 1998). Two radiocarbon dates of 18,940 ± 760 and 18,530± 725 B.P. are available from the Ardis site (Bentley and Knight 1998). The modern Bog Turtle is one of the rarest turtles in North America and it is listed as endangered by New York State and considered threatened at the Federal level. Identification of Bog Turtle from fossil or subfossil faunal assemblages can shed light on the past distribution and abundance of the species. The modern range of Bog Turtle is discontinuous and includes a population in west-central New York isolated from the larger northern population in southern New York, New Jersey, southeastern Pennsylvania, northern Delaware, and Maryland, and from a southern population Figure 1. Ventral view of Glyptemys muhlenbergii (Bog Turtle) plastron (entoplastron, hyoplastron, and hypoplastron) from Feature No. 96, Level A, Cole Gravel Pit Site. 2008 Northeastern Naturalist Notes 311 in southern Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, northwestern South Carolina, and northeastern Georgia (Ernst et al. 1994, US Fish and Wildlife Service 2001). The Ardis locality in South Carolina is approximately 250 km south of the southernmost known range of the modern Bog Turtle (Bentley and Knight 1998). The identification of Bog Turtle at the Cole Gravel Pit indicates its presence in northern Livingston County, NY, approximately 3900 years ago. While the Cole Gravel Pit site is within the general area of west-central New York State considered to be within the historic distribution of Bog Turtle, live specimens of this species have not been previously identified within Livingston County (Breisch and Ozard 1999). In west-central New York, Bog Turtle is considered extant in Oswego, Seneca, Genesee, and Wayne counties (Gibbs et al. 2007), and extirpated in Tompkins County. Historical occurrences are also recorded from Monroe and Onondaga counties (Breisch and Ozard 1999, Collins 1990, US Fish and Wildlife Service 2001). The preferred habitat of Bog Turtle, “open canopy, wet meadow or bog meadow with soft muck substrate” (Collins 1990), has been described as ecologically ephemeral (Collins 1990). It has been suggested that burning (either human-caused or non-cultural), grazing by wild or domesticated large herbivores, and beaver activities have been important agents through time in maintaining these open-canopy environments (Lee and Norden 1996, US Fish and Wildlife Service 2001). It is difficult to reconstruct the environment in the immediate vicinity of the Cole Gravel Pit site due to extensive quarrying operations in the twentieth century and railroad construction in the nineteenth century. The site, however, is bordered on the east by the Genesee River floodplain and on the south by Dugan Creek, which may have provided suitable habitat for Bog Turtles during prehistory. While the turtle specimens at Cole Gravel Pit were associated with food remains and other artifacts used by prehistoric Native Americans, their presence at the site may be the result of accidental entrapment and natural deaths in open pits, rather than human predation. None of the Bog Turtle specimens had stone tool cut marks, burning, or any other direct evidence of modification by humans. The possibility, however, that they may have been captured for food or for pets cannot be ruled out. More thorough examination of other archaeological faunal assemblages may provide additional information on the Holocene biogeography of the Bog Turtle and the timing and causes of its disjunct distribution—in particular, to what extent its current distribution can be attributed to glacial/relict populations or recent human-caused habitat destruction. Acknowledgments. Charles Hayes, Patti Ford, and Liz Dailey provided access to the Cole Gravel Pit faunal assemblage at the Rochester Museum and Science Center. Joe Bopp of the New York State Museum and David Parris of the New Jersey State Museum provided access to modern Bog Turtle specimens. Anders Rhodin and Tonya Largy graciously provided information on the Bog Turtle specimens from Ellis Island. Thanks to Michael Murphy for graphics assistance. This paper has also benefited from comments from Alvin Breisch and two anonymous reviewers. Analysis of the Cole Gravel Pit faunal assemblage was funded in part by the National Science Foundation (SBR 95-22828) and by grants from Rutgers University and the Rochester Museum and Science Center. Literature Cited Bentley, C.C., and J.L. Knight. 1998. Turtles (Reptilia: Testudines) of the Ardis local fauna Late Pleistocene (Rancholabrean) of South Carolina. Brimleyana 25:3–33. 312 Northeastern Naturalist Notes Vol. 15, No. 2 Breisch, A.R., and J.W. Ozard. 1999. The historical distribution and current status of Clemmys in New York. Poster presented at the 1999 Joint Meeting of American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, American Elasmobranch Society, Herpetologists’ League and Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, June 24–30, 1999, Pennsylvania State University, State College. 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Bog Turtle (Clemmys muhlenbergii), northern population, recovery plan. Hadley, MA. 103 pp. *New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Water Quality, MFCEBPD& TS, PO Box 425, Trenton, NJ 08625-0425. Current address - 103 School Lane, Trenton, NJ 08618; madrigal66@yahoo.com.