Editing Painted turtle (section)

{{Short description|Species of reptile}}
{{About|the North American turtle|the summer camp|The Painted Turtle}}
{{Featured article}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Painted turtle
| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|15|0}}<small>[[Neogene]]–[[Holocene|recent]]</small>{{sfn|Ernst|Lovich|2009|pp=184–185}}
| image = Painted Turtle (14541060047).jpg
| image_caption = Western painted turtle
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name=iucn>{{cite iucn|url=https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/163467/97410447|title=''Chrysemys picta''|access-date=2013-10-19}}</ref>
| display_parents = 2
| genus = Chrysemys
| parent_authority = 
| species = picta
| authority = ([[Johann Gottlob Schneider|Schneider]], 1783)
| subdivision_ranks = Subspecies
| subdivision_ref ={{sfn|Rhodin et al.|2010|p=000.99}}
| subdivision = ''C.&nbsp;p.&nbsp;bellii''{{sfn|Rhodin et al.|2010|p=000.99}}<br />''C.&nbsp;p.&nbsp;marginata''{{sfn|Rhodin et al.|2010|p=000.99}}<br />''C.&nbsp;p.&nbsp;picta''{{sfn|Rhodin et al.|2010|p=000.99}}
| range_map = Painted Turtle Distribution alternate.svg
| range_map_caption = Yellow: Eastern (''C. p. picta'')<br />
Orange: Midland (''C. p. marginata'')<br />
Blue: [[Southern painted turtle|Southern]] (''C. dorsalis'')<br />
Red: Western (''C. p. bellii'')
| synonyms = {{hidden begin|title=Species synonymy{{sfn|Mann|2007|p=6}} }}
* ''Testudo picta''<br /><small>[[Johann Gottlob Schneider|Schneider]], 1783</small>
* ''Chrysemys cinerea''<br /><small>[[Pierre Joseph Bonnaterre|Bonnaterre]], 1789</small>
* ''Emys bellii''<br /><small>[[John Edward Gray|Gray]], 1831</small>
* ''Emys oregoniensis''<br /><small>[[Richard Harlan|Harlan]], 1837</small>
* ''Chrysemys picta''<br /><small>[[John Edward Gray|Gray]], 1856</small>
* ''Chrysemys marginata''<br /><small>[[Louis Agassiz|Agassiz]], 1857</small>
* ''Chrysemys dorsalis''<br /><small>[[Louis Agassiz|Agassiz]], 1857</small>
* ''Chrysemys nuttalli''<br /><small>[[Louis Agassiz|Agassiz]], 1857</small>
* ''Chrysemys pulchra''<br /><small>[[John Edward Gray|Gray]], 1873</small>
* ''Chrysemys trealeasei''<br /><small>Hurter, 1911</small>
{{hidden end}}{{hidden begin|title=Subspecies synonymy{{sfn|Mann|2007|p=6}}<ref name="WCSU-Taxonomic" />}}
; ''[[Chrysemys picta picta]]''
* ''Testudo picta'' <small>Schneider, 1783</small>
* ''Testudo cinerea'' <small>Bonnaterre, 1789</small>
* ''Emys cinerea'' <small>Schweigger, 1812</small>
* ''Emys picta'' <small>Schweigger, 1812</small>
* ''Clemmys picta'' <small>Wagler, 1830</small>
* ''Terrapene picta'' <small>Bonaparte, 1831</small>
* ''Chrysemys picta'' <small>Gray, 1856</small>
* ''Chrysemys cinerea'' <small>Boulenger, 1889</small>
* ''Clemmys cinerea'' <small>Strauch, 1890</small>
* ''Chrysemys [cinerea] cinerea'' <small>Siebenrock, 1909</small>
* ''Chrysemis picta'' <small>Kallert, 1927</small>
* ''Chrysemys picta picta'' <small>Bishop & Schmidt, 1931</small>
* ''Chrysema picta'' <small>Chan & Cohen, 1964</small>
* ''Pseudemys picta'' <small>Arnold, 2002</small>
; ''[[Chrysemys picta bellii]]''
* ''Emys bellii'' <small>Gray, 1831</small>
* ''Clemmys'' (''Clemmys'') ''bellii'' <small>Fitzinger, 1835</small>
* ''Emys oregoniensis'' <small>Harlan, 1837</small>
* ''Chrysemys bellii'' <small>Gray, 1844</small>
* ''Emys originensis'' <small>Gray, 1844</small> (''[[ex errore]]'')
* ''Emys oregonensis'' <small>LeConte, 1854</small> (''ex errore'')
* ''Emys origonensis'' <small>Gray, 1856</small> (''ex errore'')
* ''Chrysemys nuttalii'' <small>Agassiz, 1857</small>
* ''Chrysemys oregonensis'' <small>Agassiz, 1857</small>
* ''Clemmys oregoniensis'' <small>Strauch, 1862</small>
* ''Chrysemys nuttallii'' <small>Gray, 1863</small> (''ex errore'')
* ''Chrysemys orbigniensis'' <small>Gray, 1863</small>
* ''Chrysemys pulchra'' <small>Gray, 1873</small>
* ''Emys belli'' <small>Günther, 1874</small> (''ex errore'')
* ''Chrysemys cinerea'' var. ''bellii'' <small>Boulenger, 1889</small>
* ''Chrysemys belli'' <small>Ditmars, 1907</small>
* ''Chrysemys treleasei'' <small>Hurter, 1911</small>
* ''Chrysemys marginata bellii'' <small>Stejneger & Barbour, 1917</small>
* ''Chrysemys bellii bellii'' <small>Ruthven, 1924</small>
* ''Chrysemys picta bellii'' <small>Bishop & Schmidt, 1931</small>
* ''Chrysemys picta belli'' <small>Mertens, Müller & Rust, 1934</small>
* ''Chrysemys belli belli'' <small>Pickwell, 1948</small>
* ''Chrysemys nuttalli'' <small>Schmidt, 1953</small> (''ex errore'')
* ''Chrysemys picta bollii'' <small>Kuhn, 1964</small> (''ex errore'')
* ''Chrysemys trealeasei'' <small>Ernst, 1971</small> (''ex errore'')
* ''Chrysemys trealeasi'' <small>Smith & Smith, 1980</small> (''ex errore'')
; ''[[Chrysemys picta dorsalis]]''
* ''Chrysemys dorsalis'' <small>Agassiz, 1857</small>
* ''Clemmys picta'' var. ''dorsalis'' <small>Strauch, 1862</small>
* ''Chrysemys cinerea'' var. ''dorsalis'' <small>Boulenger, 1889</small>
* ''Chrysemys marginata dorsalis'' <small>Stejneger & Barbour, 1917</small>
* ''Chrysemys bellii dorsalis'' <small>Ruthven, 1924</small>
* ''Chrysemys picta dorsalis'' <small>Bishop & Schmidt, 1931</small>
; ''[[Chrysemys picta marginata]]''
* ''Chrysemys marginata'' <small>Agassiz, 1857</small>
* ''Clemmys marginata'' <small>Strauch, 1862</small>
* ''Chrysemys marginata marginata'' <small>Stejneger & Barbour, 1917</small>
* ''Chrysemys bellii marginata'' <small>Ruthven, 1924</small>
* ''Chrysemys picta marginata'' <small>Bishop & Schmidt, 1931</small>
{{hidden end}}
| synonyms_ref = <ref name="Fritz 2007">{{Cite journal|journal=Vertebrate Zoology |title=Checklist of Chelonians of the World |date=2007 |author=Fritz, Uwe |author2=Peter Havaš |volume=57 |issue=2 |pages=177–179 |doi=10.3897/vz.57.e30895 |s2cid=87809001 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
}}

The '''painted turtle''' ('''''Chrysemys picta''''') is the most widespread native [[turtle]] of North America. It lives in relatively slow-moving fresh waters, from southern Canada to northern Mexico, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. They have been shown to prefer large wetlands with long periods of inundation and emergent vegetation.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cosentino |first1=Bradley |title=Wetland hydrology, area, and isolation influence occupancy and spatial turnover of the painted turtle, Chrysemys picta |journal=Landscape Ecology |date=September 11, 2010 |volume=25|issue=10 |pages=1589–1600 |doi=10.1007/s10980-010-9529-3 |bibcode=2010LaEco..25.1589C |s2cid=38488888 }}</ref> This species is one of the few that is specially adapted to tolerate freezing temperatures for extended periods of time due to an antifreeze-like substance in their blood that keeps their cells from freezing.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gibbons |first=J. Whitfield |date=1968 |title=Population Structure and Survivorship in the Painted Turtle, Chrysemys picta |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1441752 |journal=Copeia |volume=1968 |issue=2 |pages=260–268 |doi=10.2307/1441752 |jstor=1441752 |issn=0045-8511|url-access=subscription }}</ref> This turtle is a member of the genus ''[[Chrysemys]]'', which is part of the pond turtle family [[Emydidae]]. Fossils show that the painted turtle existed 15&nbsp;million years ago. Three regionally based [[subspecies]] (the eastern, midland, and western) evolved during the [[Last glacial period|last ice age]]. The [[southern painted turtle]] (''C.&nbsp;dorsalis'') is alternately considered the only other species in ''Chrysemys'', or another subspecies of ''C.&nbsp;picta''.

The adult painted turtle is {{convert|13|–|25|cm|in|abbr=on}} long; the male is smaller than the female. 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 western has a red pattern on the bottom shell.

The turtle eats aquatic vegetation, [[algae]], and small water creatures including insects, [[crustaceans]], and fish. Painted turtles primarily feed while in water and are able to locate and subdue prey even in heavily clouded conditions.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Grosse |first1=Andrew |title=Effects of turbidity on the foraging success of the eastern painted turtle |journal=Copeia |date=1 September 2010 |volume=2010 |issue=3|pages=463–467 |doi=10.1643/CE-09-162 |s2cid=83648930 }}</ref> 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 [[hibernation|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&nbsp;years for males, 6–16 for females.

In the traditional tales of [[Algonquian peoples|Algonquian tribes]], the colorful turtle played the part of a trickster. In modern times, four U.S. states (Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, and Vermont) have named the painted turtle their [[List of U.S. state reptiles|official reptile]]. While [[Habitat destruction|habitat loss]] and [[Roadkill|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&nbsp;years.

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