WINSTON COUNTY, Ala. — An Iowa man faces more than 100 charges after authorities accused him of taking protected turtles in Winston County, putting a small Alabama native at the center of an unusual wildlife case.
Aiden Throndson was charged with 20 counts of violating protections for flattened musk turtles by taking or capturing them, along with 104 counts of taking or selling protected species, according to court records cited by WBRC-TV.
Throngson was arrested Aug. 8 near Alabama Highway 278 and County Road 73, the television station reported. He was held on a $100,000 cash bond and an additional $5,200 good-behavior bond.
An attorney representing Throndson told WBRC the defense had no comment.
The charges involve the flattened musk turtle, a small freshwater species found nowhere but Alabama. The turtle, whose scientific name is Sternotherus depressus, is federally listed as threatened and is restricted to the upper Black Warrior River Basin in west-central Alabama.
The flattened musk turtle gets its name from its low, flattened upper shell. The species is adapted to life in streams and rivers, where it uses crevices beneath rocks and boulders for shelter.
Wildlife officials say the species has declined or disappeared from portions of its historic range. Habitat degradation, water-quality problems, sedimentation, disease and collection have all been cited as threats.
The case highlights Alabama’s freshwater biodiversity, much of it concentrated in river systems where species can have exceptionally limited ranges. For the flattened musk turtle, that range is confined to a portion of the state’s Black Warrior River drainage.