Despite México hosting the second-highest diversity of turtle species in the world, the natural history of many of those species still remains a mystery. In 2018 I began studying the Sierra or Spotted Box turtle (Terrapene nelsoni klauberi) in southeastern Sonora to document the basic natural history aspects of this species. However, given the severe gap of ecological information on this species, our work has taken us to other areas of the range of this species (the states of Sinaloa, Nayarit, and Jalisco) to better understand the conservation status of this species. In this talk, I will provide an overview of the work we have done to document the natural history of this species throughout its range and present the first results of a three-year project that we have undertaken to understand how morphology and behavior impact the reproductive success of male box turtles in Sonora.
Like many of us herp nerds, I grew up obsessed with reptiles, and always wanted to be a herpetologist. This didn’t become a reality until I met Daniel Beck at Central Washington University, who was quick to support all my curiosities and paved my path by mentoring me on undergraduate projects with Northern Alligator Lizards (Elgaria coerulea), Northern Pacific Rattlesnakes (Crotalus oreganus), and the Mexican Beaded Lizard (Heloderma horridum).
I first visited Mexico as part of Daniel Beck’s Regional Natural History Course in 2012, and the rest is history. Following the first course, I was eager to get back to Mexico, and spent two summers tracking Beaded Lizards before I got accepted into the Masters program at Central Washington University with Daniel Beck as my mentor. I worked with the Spotted wood turtle (Rhinoclemmys rubida) for my masters thesis. Following this, I moved to Mexico to pursue a Ph.D. at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) comparing turtle communities in the states of Sonora, Yucatán, and Oaxaca. I finished my PhD in 2021, and since then I have dedicated my time to running a Mexican non-profit called Students Conserving Nature with my wife Alejandra Monsiváis-Molina. Our mission is to monitor populations of freshwater and terrestrial turtles, document their natural history, and provide a scholarship program in the local communities we work that is designed to prepare underserved students to become productive and responsible adults.
