Florida red-bellied cooter

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Florida red-bellied cooter

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Testudines
Suborder: Cryptodira
Superfamily: Testudinoidea
Family: Emydidae
Genus: Pseudemys
Species:
P. nelsoni
Binomial name
Pseudemys nelsoni
Carr, 1938
Synonyms[2]
  • ? Deirochelys floridana
    O.P. Hay, 1908
  • ? Trachemys jarmani
    O.P. Hay, 1908
  • Pseudemys nelsoni
    Carr, 1938
  • Pseudemys rubriventris nelsoni
    — Mertens, 1951
  • Chrysemys (Pseudemys) nelsoni
    — McDowell, 1964
  • Chrysemys rubriventris nelsoni
    — Obst, 1983

The Florida red-bellied cooter or Florida redbelly turtle (Pseudemys nelsoni) is a species of turtle in the family Emydidae.

Etymology

The specific name, nelsoni, is in honor of American biologist George Nelson (born 1873).[3]

Geographic range

P. nelsoni is endemic to Florida, and southern Georgia. Fossils of P. nelsoni have also been found along the coast of South Carolina from the Pleistocene Epoch, indicating that the historic range of this species used to extend further north. Today, its northern counterpart, the Northern Red-bellied Cooter (Psuedemys rubriventris) occupies this region.[4]

Biology

The Florida redbelly cooter is mainly

Pseudemys floridana
) and can often be found basking on logs together.

Description

The Florida redbelly can be distinguished from other similar turtles by its distinctive red-tinged

cusps (like teeth) on its upper beak. Like most Pseudemys turtles, this species is a fairly large river turtle. Carapace length in mature turtles can range from 20.3 to 37.5 cm (8.0 to 14.8 in).[8] Females, which average 30.5 cm (12.0 in) in carapace length and weigh 4 kg (8.8 lb), are noticeably larger than males, which are around 25 cm (9.8 in) and 1.8 kg (4.0 lb) in mass.[1][9]

Export

Florida redbellies are commonly

captive bred
.

Most of US export statistics (as collected by the

farm-raised.[10]

Female cooter basking

References

  1. ^
    doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2011-1.RLTS.T170495A6782280.en
    . Retrieved 13 April 2024.
  2. doi:10.3897/vz.57.e30895
    .
  3. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5
    . (Pseudemys nelsoni, pp. 188-189).
  4. S2CID 86826329
    .
  5. ISBN 978-0965354097
  6. JSTOR 1563949
    .
  7. S2CID 83448966
    .
  8. ^ "Species Profile: Florida Redbelly Turtle (Pseudemys nelsoni) | SREL Herpetology".
  9. ^ "BREEDING TURTLES - Pseudemys nelsoni".
  10. ^ Declared Turtle Trade From the United States - Pseudemys sp.

External links

Further reading

  • Carr AF (1938). "Pseudemys nelsoni, a New Turtle from Florida". Occ. Pap. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist. 8: 305–310. (Pseudemys nelsoni, new species).
  • Ernst CH, Barbour RW, Lovich JE (1994). Turtles of the United States and Canada. Washington, District of Columbia: Smithsonian Institution Press.
  • Hubbs C (1995). "Springs and Spring Runs as Unique Aquatic Systems". Copeia 1995 (4): 989–991.
  • Reed RN, Gibbons JW (2004). "Conservation status of live U.S. nonmarine turtles in domestic and international trade" – a report to: U.S. Department of the Interior and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Aiken, South Carolina, Savannah River Ecology Lab: 1-92.
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