Nebraska now has an official state reptile.
On Friday, Governor Pete Ricketts named the Ornate Box Turtle as Nebraska’s official state reptile. Ricketts gave the proclamation at the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission Schramm Education Center in Gretna.
The ornate box turtle lives in grasslands throughout the majority of the state. The turtle is one of 48 species of reptiles, including eight other turtle species, 10 lizard species, and 29 snake species, that inhabit Nebraska.
Most of Nebraska’s turtle species live in water at least some of the time. However, the ornate box turtle is terrestrial. It is most commonly found in short, mixed, or tallgrass prairies in the Sandhills and counties in southwestern Nebraska.