The Cumberland slider (''Trachemys scripta troostii)'', also called commonly the Cumberland turtle and Troost's turtle, is a subspecies of

pond slider The pond slider (''Trachemys scripta'') is a species of common, medium-sized, semiaquatic turtle. Three subspecies are described, the most recognizable of which is the red-eared slider (''T. s. elegans''), which is popular in the pet trade and ha ...

, a semiaquatic

turtle Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Emydidae Emydidae (Latin ''emys'' (freshwater tortoise) + Ancient Greek εἶδος (''eîdos'', “appearance, resemblance”)) is a family of testudines (turtles) that includes close to 50 species in 10 genera. Members of this family are commonly call ...

. The subspecies is indigenous to the

Southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also referred to as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical region of the United States. It is located broadly on the eastern portion of the southern United States and the southern po ...

Etymology

The

subspecific name In zoological nomenclature, a subspecific name is the third part of a trinomen. In zoology there is only one rank below that of species, namely " subspecies". In botanical nomenclature, there are several levels of subspecific names, such as ''v ...

, ''troostii'', is in honor of Dutch-American naturalist

Gerard Troost Gerardus Troost (March 5, 1776 – August 14, 1850) was a Dutch- American medical doctor, naturalist, mineralogist, and founding member and first president of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences.; archive.org copie Biography Troost w ...

Taxonomy

''T. s. troostii'', a subspecies of ''T. scripta'', was formerly placed in the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

Pseudemys ''Pseudemys'' is a genus of large, herbivorous, freshwater turtles of the eastern United States and adjacent northeast Mexico. They are often referred to as cooters, which stems from ''kuta'', the word for turtle in the Bambara and Malinké lan ...

''. The Cumberland slider occurs in a different geographic location from the yellow-bellied slider (''T. s. scripta''). Intergradation does not occur between these two subspecies.

Description

The

carapace A carapace is a dorsal (upper) section of the exoskeleton or shell in a number of animal groups, including arthropods, such as crustaceans and arachnids, as well as vertebrates, such as turtles and tortoises. In turtles and tortoises, the und ...

of ''T. s. troostii'' is olive brown with yellow markings. It has two rounded projections on the posterior edge of the shell, and is slightly keeled. The adult carapace is wrinkled and oval shaped. The plastron is hingeless and slightly smaller than the carapace. Each of the bottom sides of the marginals has a spot. The skin is brown with an olive to greenish tint with yellow striping. There is a distinct bar behind the eyes that can vary from yellow to red and be either thin or wide. The plastron of the turtle has dark spots, as well as the ridge of the carapace. Also, the plastron has bars or stripes of yellow. The turtle's legs in front have larger yellow stripes than most slider species. There is a yellow and orange stripe directly behind each eye. The stripe is never entirely one color, it starts out yellow and then fades into a dark orange-to-red color closer to the back of the neck.

Behavior

''T. s. troostii'' is a communal basker. It basks on protrusions out of the water and may bask in stacks or with other species. It is active from April to October. "Slider" comes from its habit of sliding into the water when alarmed while basking, going to deep water for safety, where most predators cannot pursue it.

Geographic range and habitat

''T. s. troostii'' is found throughout the Mississippi and

Tennessee River The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names ...

drainages, and the Southeastern United States. This subspecies prefers quiet waters with muddy bottoms. Ponds, lakes, and streams, with a profusion of aquatic vegetation, organic substrate, and overhanging basking spots, are especially favored. Most people agree that the native lands of the Cumberland slider are in the Cumberland River Valley, ranging in Kentucky and Tennessee, but with the exotic animal trade, it has become a common sight even into Alabama, Georgia, and Illinois.

Reproduction

Breeding of ''T. s. troostii'' takes place in spring, fall, and winter. The male and female go through a mating ritual in which the male "claws" at the female's face and his fore legs stiffen. The female then allows the male to mount. The females may go extremely far from the water to nest and are occasionally hit by cars while crossing roads. Females construct a nest, usually at night, in various soil types. Clutch size is six to 15 eggs with 71% of the females producing two clutches per year.

Diet

''T. s. troostii'' is mostly herbivorous as an adult, but primarily carnivorous as a juvenile. Clark DB, Gibbons JW (1969). "Dietary Shift in the Turtle ''Pseudemys scripta'' (Schoeppf) from Youth to Maturity". ''Copeia'' 1969 (4): 704-706. The adults eat algae, fish, tadpoles,

crayfish Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the clade Astacidea, which also contains lobsters. In some locations, they are also known as crawfish, craydids, crawdaddies, crawdads, freshwater lobsters, mountain lobsters, rock lobsters, ...

, seeds, plants, aquatic vegetation, insects, worms, and mollusks. This subspecies, like all aquatic turtles, can only swallow food when in the water.