Painted Turtle Chrysemys Picta

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Painted Turtle Chrysemys picta Natural History Description: The Western Painted Turtle has a smooth dark carapace (top shell) and a red patterned plastron (underside shell). Its skin is covered in green and yellow lines. Painted Turtle females grow to be 4-10 CNC’s adult Wood Turtle inches long. The male is smaller than the female. Males also have longer fore claws. Vocalizations: Painted Turtles use touch to communicate, but may hiss when threatened. Breeding: Male Painted Turtles will stroke the females face with their long claws during courtship. Nesting occurs between late May and mid July. Eggs are typically laid in sandy soil close to water. The female digs the nest with her hind feet and lays 4-12 white, elliptical eggs. The temperature in the nest influences whether the young are male or female. Young turtles reach maturity at 3-5 years for males and 6-10 years for females. Distribution: There are four subspecies of Painted Turtle, which range from Canada to Mexico. In Minnesota and Wisconsin most are Western Painted Turtles. The four subspecies may interbreed and it is not uncommon to find Painted Turtles with the characteristics of more than one subspecies. EASTERN PAINTED TURTLE MIDLAND PAINTED TURTLE Habitat: Painted Turtles live in fresh water, with muddy bottoms, aquatic vegetation and basking areas. Western Painted Turtles prefer streams and lakes but also live in SOUTHERN PAINTED TURTLE WESTERN PAINTED TURTLE pasture and roadside ponds. Subspecies identification can be done by noting the red line on carapace in the Southern Painted Turtles Diet: The turtles diet consists of live or dead plants and and different plastron coloration in other subspecies. animals. The Western subspecies eats proportionally more insects in the early summer and more plants later in the year. They even eat the hard-coated White Waterlily seeds and help disperse this plant species. Lifespan: Young turtles may be aged by growth rings on their shells, but this becomes unreliable in older turtles. Recent studies in Michigan indicate that Painted Turtles can live more than 55 years! Range Map: Red is Eastern; Yellow is Midland; Green is Southern and Blue is Western. Conservation Status: Common in MN and WI. Map and subspecies photograph source: Wikipedia .

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Western Painted Turtle (Chrysemys Picta)
Western Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta) Class: Reptilia Order: Testudines Family: Emydidae Characteristics: The most widespread native turtle of North America. It lives in slow-moving fresh waters, from southern Canada to Louisiana and northern Mexico, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The adult painted turtle female is 10–25 cm (4–10 in) long; the male is smaller. The turtle's top shell is dark and smooth, without a ridge. Its skin is olive to black with red, orange, or yellow stripes on its extremities. The subspecies can be distinguished by their shells: the eastern has straight-aligned top shell segments; the midland has a large gray mark on the bottom shell; the southern has a red line on the top shell; the western has a red pattern on the bottom shell (Washington Nature Mapping Program). Behavior: Although they are frequently consumed as eggs or hatchlings by rodents, canines, and snakes, the adult turtles' hard shells protect them from most predators. Reliant on warmth from its surroundings, the painted turtle is active only during the day when it basks for hours on logs or rocks. During winter, the turtle hibernates, usually in the mud at the bottom of water bodies. Reproduction: The turtles mate in spring and autumn. Females dig nests on land and lay eggs between late spring and mid- summer. Hatched turtles grow until sexual maturity: 2–9 years for males, 6–16 for females. Diet: Wild: aquatic vegetation, algae, and small water creatures including insects, crustaceans, and fish Zoo: Algae, duck food Conservation: While habitat loss and road killings have reduced the turtle's population, its ability to live in human-disturbed settings has helped it remain the most abundant turtle in North America.
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Western Pond Turtle Summer Habitat Use in a Coastal Watershed
San Jose State University SJSU ScholarWorks Master's Theses Master's Theses and Graduate Research Spring 2010 Western Pond Turtle Summer Habitat Use in a Coastal Watershed Jae Abel San Jose State University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/etd_theses Recommended Citation Abel, Jae, "Western Pond Turtle Summer Habitat Use in a Coastal Watershed" (2010). Master's Theses. 3741. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31979/etd.bp29-6fvm https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/etd_theses/3741 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Master's Theses and Graduate Research at SJSU ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of SJSU ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. WESTERN POND TURTLE SUMMER HABITAT USE IN A COASTAL WATERSHED A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the Department of Biology San Jose State University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science by Jae Abel May 2010 i © 2010 Jae Abel ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii The Designated Thesis Committee Approves the Thesis Titled WESTERN POND TURTLE SUMMER HABITAT USE IN A COASTAL WATERSHED By Jae Abel APPROVED FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY May 2010 Dr. Jerry J. Smith Department of Biological Sciences Dr. Nishanta Rajakaruna Department of Biological Sciences Dr. Paula Messina Department of Geology Dr. Sean Hayes NOAA-National Marine Fisheries Service iii ABSTRACT WESTERN POND TURTLE SUMMER HABITAT USE IN A COASTAL WATERSHED by Jae Abel Western pond turtle ( Actinemys marmorata ) habitat use was studied in a coastal pond, lagoon, and stream system during the summer of 1995 and 1996 at Waddell Creek, Santa Cruz County, California.
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Eastern Painted Turtle Chrysemys Picta Picta Description Painted Turtles Are Commonly Found Around Quiet Bodies of Water
WILDLIFE IN CONNECTICUT WILDLIFE FACT SHEET Eastern Painted Turtle Chrysemys picta picta Description Painted turtles are commonly found around quiet bodies of water. These brightly colored turtles gain their name J. FUSCO © PAUL from colorful markings along the head, neck, and shell. They often can be observed basking on logs and rocks around a body of water and will quickly scoot into water if threatened or disturbed. The medium-sized painted turtle can be distinguished by its dark shell, which has olive lines running across the carapace (upper shell), dividing the large scutes (scales). The margin of both the carapace and plastron (bottom shell) have black and red markings. The head, neck, and limbs have yellow stripes. The plastron is typically yellow, but may be stained a rust/red color. Males can be distinguished from females by their long front claws, long tail, and smaller size. The carapace of an adult usually measures from 4.5 to 6 inches in length. Range The painted turtle is the most widely distributed North basking on rocks and logs, even on top of one another. American turtle, and the only one to range across the Opportunistic, painted turtles can be found in brackish entire continent. This species ranges from coast to tidal waters and salt marshes. Much of their time is spent coast through the northern United States and southern concealed in submerged vegetation. The turtles spend Canada, south to the Gulf of Mexico from Louisiana to the winter hibernating in mud or decayed vegetation southwestern Alabama. on pond bottoms, emerging earlier than other turtles, The painted turtle is Connecticut's most numerous turtle typically in March.
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Assessment for the Western Pond Turtle Final Report
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Western Painted Turtle (Chrysemys Picta Belli) Overview
Western Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta belli) Overview Predicted Impacts Habitat Change 2030 26 to 68 % Loss 2060 48 to 82 % Loss 2090 96 to 100 % Loss Adaptive capacity Moderately Low Fire Response Mixed Status: Chrysemys picta has four subspecies, of which only C. p. belli is found within New Mexico. Collectively, C. picta are considered “Demonstrably Secure” in the Natural Heritage global rank but more locally, C. p. belli is considered a species of greatest conservation need in New Mexico and critically imperiled in Arizona by State Heritage Programs (NMDGF 2006). Range and Habitat: The western painted turtle is found throughout the western U.S. though its range is limited to riparian systems in warmer areas like the Southwest (Figure 1). Chrysemys picta belli is an aquatic species that is found in slow-moving or still water bodies. This species has been found on the margins of lakes and river pools, streams, ditches and cattle tanks. They can be present in ponds as much as a mile from a river and are typically not found in the river itself, but in water bodies associated with rivers. Nests are dug in a variety of soils (with a depth of at least 9 cm) in a sunny area. Figure 1. Range of Crysemys picta belli (in blue) Western Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta belli) Climate Impacts and Adaptive Capacity Adaptive Capacity Score = 0.84 (Moderately low) Though C. p. belli is likely to be sensitive to a number of future changes, it scored neutral for many traits (Table 1). The western painted turtle is closely associated with wet habitats in the southwest, with few specific requirements outside of the presence of water.
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Wood Turtle Observation Form with Accompanying Photos Completed and Emailed to John (J.D.) Kleopfer at [email protected] Within 72 Hours
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