Red-eared Slider

Let's try and identify more turtles. The side-to-side scute alignment clearly identifies the 2 turtles in the front and on the left as Eastern Painted Turtles. I can't see the 3rd turtle from the left as well, but I think it's also an Eastern Painted. But what about that turtle on the right?

The scutes don't align, so we can rule out the Eastern Painted Turtle. I think I see a slight keel going down the carapace, and I can see a fairly prominent red mark on the head. These probably mean that this is a Red-eared Slider.

Those red marks are where we'd expect ears to be, though turtles have internal ears so these aren't technically ears.

These turtles are native to the US but not to NJ. They're native to an area centered around Arkansas and stretching from most of TX to western WV. They reproduce faster than most turtles, tend to be aggressive (by turtle standards), and out-compete some of our native species for food and basking spots.

April 5, 2021 at Raritan River Greenway


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