Ahhhhh ... So Warm
by Wild Thing
Title
Ahhhhh ... So Warm
Artist
Wild Thing
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
Algae covered, this guy has his neck so stretched out, I doubt he can get it any further out. He seems to be really enjoying the warmth of the summer sun.
The painted turtle (Chrysemys picta) is the most widespread native turtle of North America. It lives in slow-moving fresh waters, from southern Canada to Louisiana and northern Mexico, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The turtle is the only species of the genus Chrysemys, which is part of the pond turtle family Emydidae. Fossils show that the painted turtle existed 15�million years ago. Four regionally based subspecies (the eastern, midland, southern, and western) evolved during the last ice age.
The adult painted turtle female is 10�25�cm (4�10�in) long; the male is smaller. The turtle's top shell is dark and smooth, without a ridge. Its skin is olive to black with red, orange, or yellow stripes on its extremities. The subspecies can be distinguished by their shells: the eastern has straight-aligned top shell segments; the midland has a large gray mark on the bottom shell; the southern has a red line on the top shell; the western has a red pattern on the bottom shell.
The turtle eats aquatic vegetation, algae, and small water creatures including insects, crustaceans, and fish. Although they are frequently consumed as eggs or hatchlings by rodents, canines, and snakes, the adult turtles' hard shells protect them from most predators. Reliant on warmth from its surroundings, the painted turtle is active only during the day when it basks for hours on logs or rocks. During winter, the turtle hibernates, usually in the mud at the bottom of water bodies. The turtles mate in spring and autumn. Females dig nests on land and lay eggs between late spring and mid-summer. Hatched turtles grow until sexual maturity: 2�9�years for males, 6�16 for females.
In the traditional tales of Algonquian tribes, the colorful turtle played the part of a trickster. In modern times, four U.S. states have named the painted turtle their official reptile. While habitat loss and road killings have reduced the turtle's population, its ability to live in human-disturbed settings has helped it remain the most abundant turtle in North America. Adults in the wild can live for more than 55�years.
The painted turtle's shell is 10�25�cm (4�10�in) long, oval, smooth with little grooves where the large scale like plates overlap, and flat-bottomed. The color of the top shell (carapace) varies from olive to black. Darker specimens are more common where the bottom of the water body is darker. The bottom shell (plastron) is yellow, sometimes red, sometimes with dark markings in the center. Similar to the top shell, the turtle's skin is olive to black, but with red and yellow stripes on its neck, legs, and tail. As with other pond turtles, such as the bog turtle, the painted turtle's feet are webbed to aid swimming.
The head of the turtle is distinctive. The face has only yellow stripes, with a large yellow spot and streak behind each eye, and on the chin two wide yellow stripes that meet at the tip of the jaw. The turtle's upper jaw is shaped into an inverted "V" (philtrum), with a downward-facing, tooth-like projection on each side.
The hatchling has a proportionally larger head, eyes, and tail, and a more circular shell than the adult. The adult female is generally longer than the male, 10�25�cm (4�10�in) versus 7�15�cm (3�6�in). For a given length, the female has a higher (more rounded, less flat) top shell.] The female weighs around 500�g (18�oz) on average, against the males' average adult weight of roughly 300�g (11�oz).] The female's greater body volume supports her egg-production. The male has longer foreclaws and a longer, thicker tail, with the anus (cloaca) located further out on the tail.
The common snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina) is a large freshwater turtle of the family Chelydridae. Its natural range extends from southeastern Canada, southwest to the edge of the Rocky Mountains, as far east as Nova Scotia and Florida. This species and the larger alligator snapping turtle are the only two species in this family found in North America (though the common snapping turtle, as its name implies, is much more widespread).
Uploaded
June 22nd, 2015
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Comments (3)
Mary Ann Weger
Congratulations! Your wonderful image has been chosen as a feature for our Weekly Theme #6: "Waterways - All Sizes" in the Fine Art America Group: "Cards, Cards, Cards - Note Cards - Greeting Cards - All Media Accepted"!
Randy Rosenberger
I am very pleased to make this special FEATURE, on our homepage of the Wisconsin Flowers and Scenery Homepage. It is of the highest quality and integrity and this piece of artwork is very well deserving of high accolades by all members of FAA! I am proud to display and promote your grand artworks, and am very happy to have you as a member of our family of friends and fine artists within our WFS group. Liked & Faved Forever, Elvis
Wild Thing replied:
Tis an honor to be sure Elvis to grace the homepage as a feature! Eternal thanks!