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Eastern box turtle
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<p>The eastern box turtle (<i>Terrapene carolina carolina</i>) is a <a href="/facts/Subspecies/4L9jFacF">subspecies</a> within a group of <a href="/facts/Hinge/rjgLmMKr">hinge</a>-shelled turtles normally called <a href="/facts/Box_turtle/o3vketpP">box turtles</a>. <i>T. c. carolina</i> is native to the <a href="/facts/Eastern_United_States/VnPT6jFW">Eastern United States</a>. </p><p>The eastern box turtle is a subspecies of the <a href="/facts/Common_box_turtle/yAl9CtNn">common box turtle (<i>Terrapene carolina</i>)</a>. While in the pond turtle family, <a href="/facts/Emydidae/sVIxrYJz">Emydidae</a>, and not a <a href="/facts/Tortoise/XWKByUCz">tortoise</a>, the box turtle is largely terrestrial. Box turtles are slow crawlers, extremely long-lived, and slow to mature and have relatively few <a href="/facts/Offspring/v7LD4qBl">offspring</a> per year. These characteristics, along with a propensity to get hit by cars and agricultural machinery, make all box turtle species particularly susceptible to <a href="/facts/Human_impact_on_the_environment/vIAWqfPB">anthropogenic</a>, or human-induced, mortality. </p><p>In 2011, citing "a widespread persistent and ongoing gradual decline of <i>Terrapene carolina</i> that probably exceeds 32% over three generations", the <a href="/facts/International_Union_for_Conservation_of_Nature/QwV8JXup">International Union for Conservation of Nature</a> (IUCN) downgraded its conservation status from <a href="/facts/Near_threatened/PCH5WN3L">near threatened</a> to <a href="/facts/Vulnerable_species/79WNk4Gj">vulnerable</a>. </p>