Two subspecies of _T. ornata_ an recognized. _Terrapene o. luteola_, Smith and Ramsey (1952), ranges from northern Sonora (Guaymas) and southern Arizona (southern Pima County) eastward to southeastern New Mexico and Trans-Pecos, Texas, where it intergrades with _T. o. ornata_; the latter subspecies is not yet known from Mexico but almost surely occurs in the northeastern part of that country. The subspecies _luteola_ differs from _ornata_ in being slightly larger and in having more pale radiations on the shell (11 to 14 radiations on the second lateral lamina in _luteola_, five to eight in _ornata_). In individuals of _luteola_ the markings of the shell become less distinct with advancing age and eventually are lost; shells of most old individuals are uniform straw color or pale greenish-brown; this change in coloration does not occur in _T. o. ornata_. [Illustration: FIG. 2. Dorsal and lateral views of skull of _T. o. ornata_ (_a_ and _b_) (KU 1172, male, from 6 ml. S. Garnett, Anderson Co., Kansas) and of _T. carolina_ (_c_ and _d_)(KU 39742, from northern Florida). Note the relatively higher brain-case and the incomplete zygomatic arch in _T. o. ornata_. All figures natural size.] Fossils Of the several species of fossil _Terrapene_ described (Hay, 1908b:359-367, Auffenberg, 1958), most are clearly allied to Recent _T. carolina_. One species, _Terrapene longinsulae_ Hay, (1908a:166-168, Pl. 26) from "... the Upper Miocene or Lower Pliocene...." of Phillips County, Kansas, however, is closely related to _T. ornata_ (if not identical). I have examined the type specimen of _T. longinsulae_. Stock and Bode (1936:234, Pl. 8) reported _T. ornata_ from sub-Recent deposits near Clovis, Curry County, New Mexico. Economic Importance Ornate box turtles, referred to as "land terrapins" or "land tortoises" over most of the range of the species, are regarded by most persons whom I have queried as innocuous. These turtles occasionally damage garden crops and have been known to eat the eggs of upland game birds. _Terrapene ornata_ is seldom used for food. A. B. Leonard told me the species was eaten occasionally by Arapaho Indians in Dewey County, Oklahoma. Several specimens in the University of Kansas Archeological Collections were found in Indian middens in Rice County, Kansas, from a culture dated approximately 1500 to 1600 A. D. The flesh of _T. ornata_ occasionally may be toxic if the turtle has eaten toxic fungi as has been recorded for _T. carolina_ (Carr, 1952:147). Study Areas