Pacific pond turtle
| Pacific pond turtle | ||||||||||||
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Pacific pond turtle |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Actinemys | ||||||||||||
| Agassiz , 1857 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Actinemys marmorata | ||||||||||||
| ( Baird & Girard , 1852) |
The Pacific pond turtle ( Actinemys marmorata ) is a species of the New World pond turtle . With a carapace of up to 20 centimeters, it is one of the small to medium-sized turtles . Their distribution is restricted to the west coast of the USA and Mexico and extends from the west of the US state Washington to the north of Baja California . The Pacific turtle has been officially extinct in Canada since May 2002 . Since 2007 they have also been absent from Puget Sound .
description
The basic color of the back shell of the Pacific pond turtle is a dark olive or dark brown to almost black, in addition it has a network of brown spots and lines. The carapace is 11 to 21 centimeters long in adult animals. Only the males have a light, almost yellowish throat.
distribution
The range of the Pacific pond turtle is now disjoint . There are only a few non-contiguous populations left in southern Washington state. The Pacific pond turtle lives in muddy, vegetation-rich lakes and ponds, in brackish water and in fast-flowing streams and rivers up to 2000 meters above sea level. In essence, only the females leave the water to lay their eggs.
Way of life
The mating season falls from May to August. The clutch consists of one to thirteen eggs. The time it takes for the juvenile turtles to hatch depends on the temperature, but they usually hatch after a period of 70 to 80 days.
proof
Individual evidence
- ↑ Rogner, p. 59
literature
- Manfred Rogner: Tortoises - biology, keeping, reproduction , Eugen Ulmer KG, Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 978-3-8001-5440-1
Web links
- Actinemys marmorata in The Reptile Database
- Actinemys marmorata onthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Listed by: Tortoise & Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group, 1996. Retrieved September 25, 2013.