And finally if you note the counties where the two species have been seen, you’ll see that the distribution of the Midland Painted Turtle is much more wide in Ohio. This is not true of the Red-eared Slider. If you look at the limbs of a Midland Painted Turtle, you’ll note that there is typically some red on the turtles legs. But the carapace of the Red-eared slider is lighter, and more variable in color with lighter brownish green areas and no red spots around its edge. The carapace of a Midland Painted Turtle is an almost uniform, dark color with red spots around the edge (when seen from above). Although the yellowish lines found on our Midland Painted Turtle may turn reddish near the shell and be mistaken for a “red ear”, here are a couple of things to keep in mind to distinguish the two. The carapace (upper shell) of the Red-eared Slider reaches 5 to 8 inches in length. This is the same red-eared slider viewed from the front. This one has a peeling shell (see here for more information about that). Red-eared Slider ( Trachemys scripta elegans) Red-eared Slider - This species has a thick, red line along the side of its head behind its eye, but it does not have red on the side edge of its shell, nor is there any red on its neck, or legs. Although this Wikipedia articles discusses several varieties of painted turtle, only the Midland Painted Turtle lives in Ohio. Prior to 1976 the turtle was sighted in additional counties.įor more information, check out this Wikipedia page on Painted Turtles. Since 1976 Midland Painted Turtles have been sighted in the following Ohio counties: Adams, Ashtabula, Athens, Belmont, Brown, Butler, Champaign, Clark, Darke, Delaware, Geaugua, Guernsey, Hamilton, Knox, Lake, Licking, Lorain, Lucas, Marion, Medina, Miami, Morrow, Ottawa, Pickaway, Pike, Portage, Preble, Summit, Trumbull, Vinton, Wayne, Williams. The head typically has yellow stripes which may become red near the shell.
The turtle gets it’s “painted” characteristic from the bright red markings along the outer edge of its shell. The carapace (upper shell) of the Midland Painted Turtle reaches between 4.5 and 5.5 inches in length, and it’s very dark green (nearly black). To make it even more noticeable, it often basks in groups.
#LAND TURTLES PLUS#
This is one of the most common turtles in Ohio, plus it’s easy to spot because it enjoys basking on logs or other objects near the water’s surface. Midland Painted Turtle - The “paint” refers to the red markings near the edge of the shell, plus the red markings on the neck, legs, etc. You might also see reddish markings on the turtle’s neck, legs or tail. Midland painted turtle - When you are looking down at the top of the shell, you can only see little red dots around the side edges of the shell. And while we’re at it, let’s note how cute that little baby painted turtle is. Midland Painted Turtle - Note the red markings on the side edge of the turtle’s shell, on its neck and on its legs near the shell. If you’ve seen a turtle basking in the sun in Ohio, and you’re wondering what kind of turtle it is, the odds are that it’s a Midland Painted Turtle. Family Emydidae Midland Painted Turtle ( Chrysemys picta marginata) In the following post, I note the distinguishing characteristics of Ohio’s turtle species, plus the counties in which they’ve been sighted.
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