Painted
Turtle
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| Description
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4 - 9 7/8" .Carapace olive or black;
oval, smooth, flattened, and unkeeled; scute seems bordered with olive,yellow
or red, Red bars or crescents on marginal scutes. Plastron yellow, unpatterned
or intricately marked. Yellow and red stripes on neck, legs,and tail. Notched
upper jaw. |
Subspecies
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| Eastern |
Vertebral and coastal scute seams
aligned, plastron yellow, not patterned; se.Canada through New England and
the Atlantic coastal states to n.Georgia and e. Alabama. Midlands, vertebral
and coastal scutes not aligned, plastron yellow with dark blotch in center;
s.Quebec and s.Ontario to Tennessee. |
| Southern |
Red or yellow stripes down carapace,plastron
yellow, not patterned; s Illinois to Gulf, se.Oklahoma to c.Alabama. |
| Western |
Largest ssp., with light netlike
lines on carapace, bars on marginals, and intricate branching pattern on
plastron;sw Ontario south to Missouri and west to Oregon and British Columbia,
isolated populations in the Southwest, Specimens from areas where ranges
of subspecies overlap display an intergration of characteristics. The most
widespread turtle in North America. It is fond of basking and often dozens
can be observed on a single log. Young turtles are basically carnivorous,
but become herbivorous as the mature |
| Breeding
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Nests May to July. In North lays
1-2 clutches a year, in south 2-4, of 2-20 elliptical eggs, 1 2/4" long.
flask-shaped nest cavity is 4" deep. Hatchlings in north may overwinter
in the nest. Incubation averages 10-11 weeks. Males reach maturity in 2-5
years; females in 4-8 |
| Habitat
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Slow-moving shallows streams, rivers,
and lakes. Likes soft bottoms with vegetation and half-submerged logs. |
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