Trachemys Explained

Trachemys is a genus of turtles belonging to the family Emydidae. Members of this genus are native to the Americas, ranging from the Midwestern United States south to northern Argentina, but one subspecies, the red-eared slider (T. scripta elegans), has been introduced worldwide. Species under this genus are commonly referred to as sliders.

Species and subspecies

Extant

• Trachemys adiutrix – Maranhão slider
• Trachemys callirostris – Colombian slider
  • T. c. callirostris – Colombian slider
  • T. c. chichiriviche – Venezuelan slider
• Trachemys decorata – Hispaniolan slider
• Trachemys decussata – Cuban slider
  • T. d. angusta – western Cuban slider
  • T. d. decussata – eastern Cuban slider
• Trachemys dorbigni – D'Orbigny's slider
• Trachemys emolli – Nicaraguan slider
• Trachemys gaigeae – Big Bend slider
• Trachemys hartwegi – Nazas slider^[1]
• Trachemys medemi – Atrato slider^[2]
• Trachemys nebulosa – Baja California slider
  • T. n. hiltoni – Fuerte slider
  • T. n. nebulosa – Baja California slider
• Trachemys ornata – ornate slider
• Trachemys scripta – pond slider
  • T. s. elegans – red-eared slider
  • T. s. scripta – yellow-bellied slider
  • T. s. troostii – Cumberland slider
• Trachemys stejnegeri – Central Antillean slider
  • T. s. malonei – Inagua slider
  • T. s. stejnegeri – Puerto Rican slider
  • T. s. vicina – Dominican slider
• Trachemys taylori – Cuatro Ciénegas slider
• Trachemys terrapen – Jamaican slider
• Trachemys venusta – Meso-American slider
  • T. v. cataspila – Huasecan slider
  • T. v. grayi – Gray's slider or Tehuantepec slider
  • T. v. iversoni – Yucatan slider
  • T. v. panamensis – Panamanian slider
  • T. v. uhrigi – Uhrig's slider
  • T. v. venusta – Belize slider
• Trachemys yaquia – Yaqui slider

Nota bene

In the above list, a binomial authority or a trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species or subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Trachemys.

Fossil

• † Trachemys inflata - inflated slider turtle^[3]
• † Trachemys haugrudi - Haugrud's slider turtle^[4]

Further reading

• Agassiz L (1857). Contributions to the Natural History of the United States of America. Vol. I. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. li + 452 pp. (Trachemys, new genus, p. 434).

External links

• University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web | Genus Trachemys (sliders)

Notes and References

1. Book: Rhodin, Anders G.J. . Turtles of the World: Annotated Checklist and Atlas of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution, and Conservation Status (9th Ed.). . 2021-11-15 . Chelonian Research Foundation and Turtle Conservancy . 978-0-9910368-3-7 . Chelonian Research Monographs. 8 . 10.3854/crm.8.checklist.atlas.v9.2021 . 244279960 .
2. Vargas-Ramírez, Mario; del Valle, Carlos; Ceballos, Claudia P.; Fritz, Uwe (2017). "Trachemys medemi n. sp. from northwestern Colombia turns the biogeography of South American slider turtles". Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research 55 (4): 326-339.
3. News: Fossil Trachemys (Testudines: Emydidae) from the Late Hemphillian of Eastern Tennessee and Its Implications for the Evolution of the Emydidae. Jasinski. Steve. May 2013. Doctoral dissertation, East Tennessee State University. 2019-09-22. en-US.
4. Jasinski. Steven E.. 2018-02-13. A new slider turtle (Testudines: Emydidae: Deirochelyinae: Trachemys) from the late Hemphillian (late Miocene/early Pliocene) of eastern Tennessee and the evolution of the deirochelyines . PeerJ. en. 6. e4338. 10.7717/peerj.4338. 29456887. 5815335. 2167-8359 . free .