Plymouth red-bellied turtle

Plymouth red-bellied turtle
Conservation status
Endangered (ESA)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Subclass:	Anapsida
Order:	Testudines
Suborder:	Cryptodira
Superfamily:	Testudinoidea
Family:	Emydidae
Genus:	Pseudemys
Species:	P. rubriventris
Subspecies:	P. r. bangsi
Trinomial name
Pseudemys rubriventris bangsi Babcock, 1937

Plymouth red-bellied turtle on Long Pond in Plymouth, Massachusetts

The Plymouth red-bellied turtle (Pseudemys rubriventris bangsi), sometimes called the Plymouth red-bellied cooter, the first^[1] freshwater turtle in the US to be listed as endangered, by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service^[2][3] was found only in Plymouth County, Massachusetts before the state began trying to establish populations in other areas. Current thinking is that they are not a full subspecies and that they belong in synonymy under Pseudemys rubriventris or northern red-bellied cooter.^[4] Nevertheless, it is well recognized that the Plymouth red-bellied turtle extends the range of the northern red-bellied cooter by 30–40 percent.^[3] In 1983, Massasoit National Wildlife Refuge was established to help conserve the Plymouth red-bellied turtle.

This turtle gets its name from its reddish plastron or undershell. They have flattened or slightly concave vertebral scutes with a red bar on each marginal scute. Their upper shell or carapace ranges from brown to black. An arrow-shaped stripe runs atop head, between the eyes, to their snout. Adults are 10–16 inches (25–41 cm). Males have elongated, straight claws on the front feet.^[5]

It lives in the Plymouth Pinelands of the Massachusetts and spends most of its time in freshwater ponds. In spring and summer, the females nest in sand while the males look for food. Females lay 5–17 eggs at a time. The incubation of the eggs takes 73 to 80 days, and the eggs hatch at around 25 °C (77 °F). Hatchlings are about 32 millimetres (1.3 in) long. Eggs and young turtles are prey to skunks, raccoons, birds, and fish. Their natural lifespan is 40 to 45 years. The population had been reduced to 200–300 turtles by the 1980s. By 2007, there were estimated to be 400–600 breeding age turtles across 20 ponds. This is due to overhunting by its natural predator the skunk and pollution from herbicides dumped into streams and ponds. Loss of habitat, as a result of filling in ponds to create houses is also a major issue.^[3]

References

External links

• Graham, T.E. Summary report to Mass. Department of Fish and Wildlife, December 31, 1984.

Family Emydidae (pond turtles)
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Reptilia Order: Testudines Suborder: Cryptodira Superfamily: Testudinoidea Family: Emydidae
Genus	Species of the subfamily Deirochelyinae
Chrysemys	Painted turtle
Deirochelys	Chicken turtle
Graptemys	Alabama map turtle Barbour's map turtle Black-knobbed map turtle Cagle's map turtle Escambia map turtle False map turtle Northern map turtle Ouachita map turtle Pascagoula map turtle Pearl River map turtle Ringed map turtle Texas map turtle Yellow-blotched map turtle
Malaclemys	Diamondback terrapin
Pseudemys	Alabama red-bellied cooter Northern red-bellied cooter Florida red-bellied cooter Peninsula cooter Rio Grande cooter River cooter Texas river cooter
Trachemys	Big bend slider Baja California slider Central Antillean slider Colombian slider Cuatro Cienegas slider Cuban slider D'Orbigny's slider Hispaniolan slider Jamaican slider Maranhão slider Meso-American slider Nicaraguan slider Ornate slider Pond slider Yaqui slider
	Species of the subfamily Emydinae
Clemmys	Spotted turtle
Emys	Blanding's turtle European pond turtle Sicilian pond turtle Western pond turtle
Glyptemys	Bog turtle Wood turtle
Terrapene	Coahuilan box turtle Common box turtle Ornate box turtle Spotted box turtle
Phylogenetic arrangement based on turtles of the world 2011 update: annotated checklist. Subspecies and the extinct (Gyremys sectabilis) are not included.