How to Sex Every Animal-Edition IV-Turtles and Tortoises!

-Aquatic Turtles-Aquatic turtles, such as painted turtles, sliders, cooters, map turtles, and other species can be distinguished in several different ways. Firstly, their eggs and incubation are often, but not always, temperature-sex dependent, with higher incubation temperatures more likely to produce females than lower temperatures, producing more likely males. Some species can be sexually dimorphic in size, with females being much larger than males. Males of many species can also have differing structural differences such as concave plastrons (as opposed to flat plastrons in females), and/or longer claws or nails on the fore-limbs or appendages used in mating and copulation. Sometimes, iris color can also differ between males and females, as in box turtles, although this is not always reliable. The length of the tail, and position of the cloaca can also be used, with males often having longer tails and cloacas or vent openings located further towards the tip of the tail than in females.

*Figure 1. Comparison of tail lengths and cloaca placement between male and female Turtles or Tortoises. Credited to Bill’s Box Turtles.

-Tortoises, Box Turtles, and Other Terrestrial Turtles-Many of the methods of sex determination for more aquatic turtles, can also be largely applicable to tortoises, box turtles, and other more terrestrial turtles as well. Another difference in some species would be to examine the differences in anal scutes, or notches, of the turtle or tortoise’s plastron between males and females. Hatchling turtles and tortoises can otherwise be very difficult to reliably sex.

*Figure 2. Comparison of plastrons in Turtles or Tortoises. Male, with concave plastron (left), female with flat plastron (right).

*Figure 3. Comparison of claws on fore-limbs in Aquatic species of Turtles. Note the much longer claws in males (right) compared to females (left). Credited to Gili Shark Conservation.