The Big Bend slider (Trachemys gaigeae), also called
commonly the Mexican Plateau slider and la jicotea de la meseta mexicana in Mexican Spanish, is a
species of aquatic
turtle in the
familyEmydidae. The species is native to the
Southwestern United States and northern
Mexico.
Taxonomy
The species Trachemys gaigeae was first described by professor of
zoology at the
University of Michigan, Dr.
Norman Edouard Hartweg, in 1939, as a subspecies, Pseudemys scripta gaigeae. Later, it was assigned to the genus Chrysemys, then to the genus Trachemys. Most recently, it was granted full species status,[3] though many sources still refer to it by its various synonyms.
Primarily aquatic, the Big Bend slider is often seen basking on rocks or logs in the water, and when approached quickly dives to the bottom.[citation needed] The only time it spends a large amount of time on land is when females emerge to lay
eggs.[citation needed] It is an
omnivorous species, with younger animals being more
carnivorous, and progressively becoming more
herbivorous as they age, with older adults being nearly entirely herbivorous.[citation needed]
Description
Adults of T. gaigeae have a straight
carapace length of 5 to 11 inches (13 to 28 cm).[6]
^
abPowell R,
Conant R,
Collins JT (2016). Peterson Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, Fourth Edition. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. xiv + 494 pp., 47 plates, 207 figures.
ISBN978-0-544-12997-9 (Trachemys gaigeae, p. 217, figure 96).
^Beolens, Bo;
Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp.
ISBN978-1-4214-0135-5. (Trachemys gaigeae, p. 96).
Behler JL,
King FW (1979). The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 743 pp.
ISBN0-394-50824-6. (Chrysemys scripta gaigeae, p. 453).
Conant R (1975). A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, Second Edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. xviii + 429 pp. + Plates 1-48.
ISBN0-395-19979-4 (hardcover),
ISBN0-395-19977-8 (paperback). (Chrysemys scripta gaigeae, p. 63 + Figure 10 on p. 58 + Map 25).
Hartweg N (1939). "A New American Pseudemys ". Occasional Papers of the Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan (397): 1–4. (Pseudemys scripta gaigeae, new subspecies).
Legler JM (1990). "Chapter 7. The Genus Pseudemys in Mesoamerica: Taxonomy, Distribution, and Origins". In:Gibbons JW (1990). Life History and Ecology of the Slider Turtle. Washington, District of Columbia: Smithsonian Institution Press. 368 pp.
ISBN978-0874744682. (Pseudemys scripta hartwegi, new subspecies, pp. 89–91, Figure 7.5, Tables 7.2-7.6).
Smith HM,
Brodie ED Jr (1982). Reptiles of North America: A Guide to Field Identification. New York: Golden Press. 240 pp.
ISBN0-307-13666-3. (Pseudemys scripta gaigeae, pp. 56–57).
Stebbins RC (2003). A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians, Third Edition. The Peterson Field Guide Series ®. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. xiii + 533 pp.
ISBN978-0-395-98272-3. (Trachemys gaigeae, pp. 253–254 + Plate 21 + Map 69).