Eastern Painted Turtle
I spotted this small turtle basking on a log in a pond. There were several other painted turtles nearby, but they were all much larger than this one.
It has a dark shell that has olive lines running across the carapace, dividing the large scutes. The margin of both the carapace and plastron have black and red markings. The head, neck, and legs have yellow stripes.
The painted turtle is the most widespread native turtle of North America. It lives in slow-moving fresh waters, from southern Canada to northern Mexico, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The turtle is the only species of the genus "Chrysemys", which is part of the pond turtle family Emydidae. Fossils show that the painted turtle existed 15 million years ago.
Similar species: Turtles And Tortoises
By Christine Young
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Uploaded May 4, 2018. Captured May 1, 2018 12:23 in 3280 Franklin Ave, Millbrook, NY 12545, USA.
