Pseudemys Nelsoni
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The Florida red-bellied cooter or Florida redbelly turtle (''Pseudemys nelsoni'') is a
species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
of turtle in the
family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
Emydidae Emydidae (Latin ''emys'' (freshwater tortoise) + Ancient Greek εἶδος (''eîdos'', “appearance, resemblance”)) is a family of testudines (turtles) that includes close to 50 species in 10 genera. Members of this family are commonly calle ...
.


Etymology

The
specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...
, ''nelsoni'', is in honor of American biologist George Nelson (born 1873).


Geographic range

''P. nelsoni'' is
endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
, and southern Georgia. Fossils of ''P. nelsoni'' have also been found along the coast of South Carolina from the Pleistocene Epoch, indicating that the historic range of this species used to extend further north. Today, its northern counterpart, the
Northern Red-bellied Cooter The northern red-bellied turtle (''Pseudemys rubriventris'') or American red-bellied turtle is a species of turtle in the Pseudemys (cooter) genus of the family Emydidae. Description A fairly large river turtle, it averages about in length and ...
(''Psuedemys rubriventris'') occupies this region.


Biology

The Florida redbelly cooter is mainly herbivorous, and can be found in nearly any type of
aquatic habitat Marine biology is the scientific study of the biology of marine life, organisms in the sea. Given that in biology many phyla, families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others that live on land, marine biology classifies s ...
. It feeds on a variety of aquatic plants including waterweed ('' Vallisneria'' and '' Elodea''), duckweed ('' Lemna'' and '' Wolffia''), and arrowhead ('' Sagittaria'') species. It reaches particularly high densities in spring runs, and occasionally can be found in
brackish Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...
water. It appears to have an intermediate salinity tolerance compared to true freshwater forms and the highly specialized terrapin ('' Malachemys''). This species is active year-round and spends a large portion of the day basking on logs. They are noted for sometimes laying their eggs in the nest mounds of
alligator An alligator is a large reptile in the Crocodilia order in the genus ''Alligator'' of the family Alligatoridae. The two extant species are the American alligator (''A. mississippiensis'') and the Chinese alligator (''A. sinensis''). Additiona ...
s. Sex is temperature-dependent with males being born at cooler temperatures and females being born at warmer temperatures with a pivotal temperature of about 28.5 °C. The Florida redbelly is closely related to the Peninsula cooter (''
Pseudemys floridana The coastal plain cooter (''Pseudemys floridana'') or Florida cooter is a species of large herbivorous freshwater turtle in the genus ''Pseudemys''. Biology The species is found within the southeastern coastal plain of the United States, from ex ...
'') and can often be found basking on logs together.


Description

The Florida redbelly can be distinguished from other similar turtles by its distinctive red-tinged plastron (belly) and two cusps (like teeth) on its upper beak. Like most ''Pseudemys'' turtles, this species is a fairly large river turtle. Carapace length in mature turtles can range from . Females, which average in carapace length and weigh , are noticeably larger than males, which are around and in mass.


Export

Florida redbellies are commonly
exported An export in international trade is a good produced in one country that is sold into another country or a service provided in one country for a national or resident of another country. The seller of such goods or the service provider is an ...
for consumption and the pet trade, with about 50% wild caught individuals and 50% captive bred. Most of US export statistics (as collected by the
World Chelonian Trust In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...
in 2002–2005) simply describe exported turtles by the genus, ''Pseudemys'', without identifying the species. They are exported by the million, and are mostly farm-raised.Declared Turtle Trade From the United States - ''Pseudemys sp.''
/ref>


References


External links


Florida red-bellied cooter
Southeast Ecological Science Center.


Further reading

* Carr AF (1938). "''Pseudemys nelsoni'', a New Turtle from Florida". ''Occ. Pap. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist.'' 8: 305–310. (''Pseudemys nelsoni'', new species). * Ernst CH, Barbour RW, Lovich JE (1994). ''Turtles of the United States and Canada''. Washington, District of Columbia: Smithsonian Institution Press. * Hubbs C (1995). "Springs and Spring Runs as Unique Aquatic Systems". ''Copeia'' 1995 (4): 989–991. *Reed RN, Gibbons JW (2004). "Conservation status of live U.S. nonmarine turtles in domestic and international trade" – a report to: U.S. Department of the Interior and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Aiken, South Carolina, Savannah River Ecology Lab: 1-92. {{Taxonbar, from=Q175696 Pseudemys Reptiles of the United States Reptiles described in 1938 Taxa named by Archie Carr