Species: Chrysemys picta

Northern Painted Turtle

Species

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Encyclopedia of Puget Sound

Shell hard, somewhat flattened; bright yellow lines on head and limbs; lower shell orange or reddish, with conspicuous dark markings in juveniles; upper shell often with narrow yellow lines (reduced in larger individuals), less often with dark reticulation; upper jaw notched at tip; maximum upper shell length of female about 25 cm, rarely more than 21 cm (males are much smaller). Mature male: vent located beyond rear edge of upper shell with tail extended; fingernails very long; lower shell not concave. Mature female: vent at or inside rear edge of upper shell with tail extended; fingernails not especially long. Juvenile: as in adult female, with a deep crease across abdominal shields of lower shell. Hatchling: upper shell keeled; lower shell vivid orange/red, with a central dark figure having a sinuous outer edge; upper shell length 19-28 mm (average 23-24 mm). Eggs: elliptical, whitish, smooth surface with small pores; shell initially flexible, then becomes more rigid, 21-36 mm x 15-21 mm (mostly about 29-33 x 18-19 mm). Source: Hammerson (1999).

Classification

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Craniata

Class

Chelonia

Order

Cryptodeira

Family

Emydidae

Genus

Chrysemys

NatureServe

Source:
ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.637723

Classification

Informal Taxonomy

Animals, Vertebrates - Turtles

Formal Taxonomy

Animalia - Craniata - Chelonia - Cryptodeira - Emydidae - Chrysemys - complex.

Ecology and Life History

Migration

false - true - false - In small marsh systems, home range size may be very small (e.g., average of 1.2 ha in Michigan) (Rowe 2003), whereas in rivers individual home range sizes are much larger (e.g., 7-26 km (MacCulloch and Secoy 1983).

Non-migrant

false

Locally Migrant

true

Food Comments

Feeds opportunistically on various plants and animals, living or dead, obtained from bottom of water or among aquatic plants. Diet is dominated by invertebrates in some areas. Juvenile diet sometimes includes cladoceran zooplankton (Mauer 1995, Herpetological Review 26:34).

Reproduction Comments

Most nesting occurs between late May and early July, perhaps earlier in the south. Individual females often produce more than one clutch/year in most of the range (often 2 in Wisconsin, 2-3 and sometimes 4 in Nebraska). Clutch size averages 4 in Virginia, 8 in Maine and Michigan, 10 in Wisconsin and New Mexico, 13 in Washington, 14 in Nebraska, 16 in Idaho, 20 in Saskatchewan. Hatchlings usually remain in the nest in winter and emerge in spring. Females are sexually mature in 5 years (Tennessee, Pennsylvania, New Mexico), 5-6 years (Nebraska), 6 years (Ontario and Virginia), 6-7 years (Idaho), 7 years (Canada, Michigan), 8 years (Wisconsin), or 8-10 years (Washington). Males mature at younger ages. In Nebraska, some females apparently survived beyond 30 years (Iverson and Smith 1993). In Michigan, warmer years with a longer growing season resulted more rapid attainment of sexual maturity in males (Frazer et al., 1993, Am. Midl. Nat. 130:314-324).

Ecology Comments

In many areas, eggs and hatchlings incur high mortality from various predators (e.g., see Christens and Bider 1987). However, of 13 monitored nests in northern Idaho, none was lost to predation; overall survivorship (from laying until emergence from nest) for 193 eggs was 0.21-0.33 (Lindeman 1991). Annual survivorship of adult females in Virginia was high (0.94-0.96) (Mitchell 1988). In Michigan, annual survivorship of adult males and females was 0.64-0.83 and 0.29-0.50, respectively; annual survivorship of juveniles was 0.21-0.51; maximum age was estimated at 34 years; population density increased and survival rate apparently decreased over a period of 2+ decades (Frazer et al. 1991). In Nebraska, annual adult survivorship was at least 91% (Iverson and Smith 1993). See Iverson (1991) for a compilation of survivorship data on eggs and juveniles. Density in ponds and lakes varies greatly; up to several hundred per ha in some areas, as few as a dozen per ha in other areas.

Length

Conservation Status

NatureServe Global Status Rank

Global Status Last Reviewed

2005-05-02

Global Status Last Changed

1996-10-21

Distribution

Conservation Status Map

Global Range

H - 2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles) - H - (Starkey et al. 2003).

Global Range Code

Global Range Description

2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)

ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.637723