Testudines Trachemys scripta -- Pond Slider
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Purple shade indicates vouchered specimens. Light blue (cyan)
shade indicates photographic records. Yellow shade indicates verified
sighting. Slanted hatch indicates pre-1980 records only
NOTE: Not all specimens upon which these maps are based have been verified.
Key Characteristics: Bright red stripe behind eye; dark spot on each plastral scute.
Similar Species: River cooter.
Subspecies: Red-eared slider, T. s. elegans.
Description: Medium-sized (up to 26 cm CL) turtle with olive or green carapace. Vertical yellow bar through each lateral scute and additional yellow and dark lines parallel to each bar. Carapace low, with weak midback keel and serrate posterior edge. Keel and toothed edge of carapace disappear with age. Plastron yellow with dark markings. Old adults (particularly males) melanistic, with obscured pattern. Male with elongate foreclaws and vent opening beyond end of carapace.
Habitat: Most permanent bodies of water. Common in mud-bottomed sites rich in vegetation and basking structures.
Natural History: Omnivorous, feeds heavily on animal prey when young and becomes more herbivorous with maturation. Nests mid-May into early July. Female lays 5-18 ellipsoidal (ca. 36 x 22 mm) eggs per nest 2-3 times annually. Embryos hatch in two months.
Status: Adaptable and exceedingly common in Illinois.