Description: This is a medium sized turtle with adults usually measuring 4.72 to 8.66 inches CL (Carpace Length). The skin is green to olive brown with light stripes. There is a prominent black-bordered red, orange or yellow ovoid spot on the side of the head, with another smaller spot usually present between it and the eye. The carapace is olive or brownish with numerous orange curved lines, some of which form ocelli. There is a weak keel on the carapace and the rear margin is serrated. The plastron is yellow with a darkmedian figure that may be disrupted longitudinally. With increasing age, melanism mat obscure much of the normal pattern, especially in males, although this is less often seen in specimens from New Mexico. Young have a lighter, more contrasting color pattern, often with spots and blotches having light centers.
Habitat: Rivers with permanent water (at least permanent pools); ponds, impoundments, and stock tanks along the Rio Grande; basks on shore, logs, vegetation mats, or at water surface. A nest in New Mexico was on level sandy ground among forbs, 75 feetfrom a large shallow pond.
Range: is native to the United States in the states of New Mexico and Texas, and to northern Mexico in the state of Chihuahua. It is found primarily in the Rio Grande and Rio Concho.
Diet: It is an omnivorous species, with younger animals being more carnivorous, and progressively becoming more herbivorous as they age, with older adults being nearly entirely herbivorous.
Reproduction: Nesting has been observed on May 31 in New Mexico; clutch size is 6 to 29; hatchlings overwinter in the nest.
Status: Common within range, but not abundant. Common along many stretches of the Rio Grande in Texas. Monitored for past 20 years during float trips on the Rio Grande, Texas; approximately 5 to 6 turtles/mile. Fairly common in canals and ponds in the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico. May regularly move among waterbodies (i.e., unit ponds), thus complicating any efforts to determine population densities at a given site.
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Disclaimer: ITIS taxonomy is based on the latest scientific consensus available, and is provided as a general reference source for interested parties. However, it is not a legal authority for statutory or regulatory purposes. While every effort has been made to provide the most reliable and up-to-date information available, ultimate legal requirements with respect to species are contained in provisions of treaties to which the United States is a party, wildlife statutes, regulations, and any applicable notices that have been published in the Federal Register. For further information on U.S. legal requirements with respect to protected taxa, please contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
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