Editing Turtle (section)

== Distribution and habitat==

Turtles are widely distributed across the world's continents, oceans, and islands with terrestrial, fully aquatic, and semi-aquatic species.<!--, being absent mainly from the polar regions, the northern parts of North America and Eurasia, and the driest regions of the Sahara, Arabia and Australia--> Sea turtles are mainly tropical and subtropical, but leatherbacks can be found in colder areas of the Atlantic and Pacific.<ref name="Pough 2001 pp. 146–151"/> Living Pleurodira all live in freshwater and are found only in the Southern Hemisphere.<ref name="Ferreira Bronzati Langer Sterli 2018">{{cite journal |last1=Ferreira |first1=Gabriel S. |last2=Bronzati |first2=Mario |last3=Langer |first3=Max C. |last4=Sterli |first4=Juliana |title=Phylogeny, Biogeography and Diversification Patterns of Side-necked Turtles (Testudines: Pleurodira) |journal=Royal Society Open Science |volume=5 |issue=3 |year=2018 |issn=2054-5703 |doi=10.1098/rsos.171773 |page=171773|pmid=29657780 |pmc=5882704 |bibcode=2018RSOS....571773F }}</ref> The Cryptodira include terrestrial, freshwater, and marine species, and these range more widely.<ref name="Pough 2001 pp. 146–151">{{cite book |last=Pough |first=F. Harvey |title=Encyclopedia of Biodiversity |chapter=Reptiles, Biodiversity of |publisher=Elsevier |year=2001 |doi=10.1016/b0-12-226865-2/00233-9 |pages=146–151|isbn=978-0-12-226865-6 }}</ref> The world regions richest in non-marine turtle species<!--"most speciose"--> are the Amazon basin, the [[Gulf of Mexico]] [[Drainage basin|drainages]] of the United States, and parts of South and Southeast Asia.<ref name="Buhlmann et al 2009">{{cite journal |last1=Buhlmann |first1=Kurt A. |first2=Thomas S. B. |last2=Akre |first3=John B. |last3=Iverson |first4=Deno |last4=Karapatakis |first5=Russell A. |last5=Mittermeier |first6=Arthur |last6=Georges |first7=Anders G. J. |last7=Rhodin |first8=Peter Paul |last8=van Dijk |first9=J. Whitfield |last9=Gibbons |title=A Global Analysis of Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Distributions with Identification of Priority Conservation Areas |journal=Chelonian Conservation and Biology |volume=8 |issue=2 |year=2009 |pages=116–149 |doi=10.2744/CCB-0774.1 |s2cid=85942804 |display-authors=3 |url=https://iucn-tftsg.org/wp-content/uploads/file/Articles/Buhlmann_etal_2009.pdf |access-date=May 9, 2021 |archive-date=May 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210509195346/https://iucn-tftsg.org/wp-content/uploads/file/Articles/Buhlmann_etal_2009.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

For turtles in colder climates, their distribution is limited by constraints on reproduction, which is reduced by long hibernations. North American species barely range above the southern Canadian border.<ref name="Ultsch p=339">{{cite journal |last=Ultsch |first=Gordon R. |title=The Ecology of Overwintering Among Turtles: Where Turtles Overwinter and its Consequences |journal=Biological Reviews |volume=81 |issue=3 |date=15 May 2006 |pages=339–367 |issn=1464-7931 |doi=10.1017/s1464793106007032 |pmid=16700968 |s2cid=32939695 }}</ref> Some turtles are found at high altitudes, for example, the species ''[[Terrapene ornata]]'' occurs up to {{convert|2000|m|ft|abbr=on}} in New Mexico.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Degenhardt |first1=William G. |last2=Christiansen |first2=James L. |title=Distribution and Habitats of Turtles in New Mexico |journal=The Southwestern Naturalist |year=1975 |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=21–46 |doi=10.2307/3669787 |jstor=3669787}}</ref> Conversely, the leatherback sea turtle can dive over {{convert|1200|m|ft|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dodge |first1=Kara L. |last2=Galuardi|first2=Benjamin |last3=Miller |first3=Timothy J. |last4=Lutcavage |first4=Molly E. |title=Leatherback Turtle Movements, Dive Behavior, and Habitat Characteristics in Ecoregions of the Northwest Atlantic Ocean |journal=PLOS ONE |year=2014 |volume=9 |issue=3 |page=e91726 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0091726 |pmid=24646920 |pmc=3960146 |bibcode=2014PLoSO...991726D |doi-access=free }}</ref> Species of the genus ''[[Gopherus]]'' can tolerate both below freezing and over {{convert|40|C|F|0|abbr=on}} in body temperature, though they are most active at {{convert|26|–|34|C|F|0|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite web |last=Meyer |first=Rachelle |title=Gopherus spp. |url=https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/animals/reptile/goph/all.html |publisher=[[U.S. Department of Agriculture]], Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory |access-date=May 9, 2021 |year=2008 |archive-date=September 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200916021457/https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/animals/reptile/goph/all.html |url-status=live }}</ref>