This adorable fellow is a mangrove terrapin--a rare sub-species of the diamondback terrapin (Malaclemmys terrapin.)

   And this adorable fellow is Dr. Roger Wood, Director of Research Professor of Zoology at Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, Director of Research at the Wetlands Institute and Program Director of the Coastal Conservation Research Program. He invented a terrapin-excluding device to reduce terrapin deaths from crab traps. His Terrapin Conservation program in New Jersey incubates and raises the eggs taken from diamondback terrapin killed by cars, eventually releasing the hatchlings into the wild. To learn more about Dr. Wood's work with terrapin, visit the Wetlands Institute Website:www.wetlandsinstitute.org

  The Keys' subspecies of diamondback terrapin are called mangrove terrapin. According to Dr. Wood, mangrove terrapin have the smallest range and population of all 7 subspecies of diamondback terrapin. Mangrove terrapin have the ability to tolerate water with extremely high salinity--though they are not marine turtles. And unlike their northern counterparts which hibernate in winter, mangrove terrapin sleep away the hottest summer months and are active during cooler winter temperatures.

    Since the 1980's Dr. Wood and his team have been marking and microchipping these carnivorous reptiles in the Key West Wildlife Refuge. Many of the first terrapin they marked are remarkably still alive --making them close to 40 years old!

   The popularity of turtle soup in the early 1900's saw intense harvesting of diamondback terrapin, which abated during prohibition because sherry was an important ingredient in the dish. However, terrapin populations still struggle to recover. More and more, human activities encroach upon terrapin nesting and feeding grounds. Dr. Wood's studies of terrapin--leading to effective conservation measures--are more important than ever.