Big Bend slider facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Big Bend slider
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Genus:	Trachemys
Species:	gaigeae
Synonyms
Nota bene: Dashes indicate scientific names which are simply new combinations, i.e., not new taxa. Trachemys gaigeae gaigeae Pseudemys scripta gaigeae Hartweg, 1939 Pseudemys gaigeae — Stejneger & Barbour, 1939 Pseudemys scripta gagei Zweig & Crenshaw, 1957 (ex errore) Chrysemys scripta gaigeae — H.M. Smith & Taylor, 1966 Pseudemys scripta gaigei Ernst, 1967 (ex errore) Chrysemys gaigeae — Weaver & Rose, 1967 Pseudemys scripta gaigea Degenhardt & Christiansen, 1974 (ex errore) Chrysemys gaigae Ashton, Edwards & Pisani, 1976 (ex errore) Chrysemys gaigea — Morafka, 1977 Chrysemys scripta gaigae — Morafka, 1977 Trachemys nebulosa gaigeae — Ward, 1984 Pseudemys scripta gaigae — Stebbins, 1985 Trachemys scripta gaigeae — Iverson, 1985 Trachemys gaigeae — Dixon, 1987 Trachemys gaigae — Williamson, Hyder & Applegarth, 1994 Trachemys ornata gaigeae — Walls, 1996 Trachemys gaigeae gaigeae — Seidel, 2002 Trachemys scripta gaigae — Gurley, 2003 Trachemys nebulosa gaigae — Joseph-Ouni, 2004 Pseudemys scripta hartwegi Legler, 1980 (nomen nudum) Chrysemys scripta hartwegi — Obst, 1983 Trachemys scripta hartwegi — Iverson, 1985 Pseudemys scripta hartwegi Legler, 1990 Trachemys scripta hartwegi — Iverson, 1992 Trachemys ornata hartwegi — Walls, 1996 Trachemys nebulosa hartwegi — Bringsøe, 2001 Trachemys gaigeae hartwegi — Seidel, 2002

The Big Bend slider (Trachemys gaigeae), also called the Mexican Plateau slider, is a species of aquatic turtle in the family Emydidae. The species is endemic to the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico.

Geographic range

T. gaigeae is native to the United States in the states of New Mexico and Texas, and to northern Mexico in the state of Chihuahua. It is found primarily in the Rio Grande, Rio Concho, and Rio Nazas river systems.

Etymology

The epithet, gaigeae, is in honor of American herpetologist Helen Beulah Thompson Gaige, who collected the first specimen in the Big Bend region of Texas in 1928.^[1]

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, though many sources still refer to it by its various synonyms.

Behavior

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. The only time it spends a large amount of time on land is when females emerge to lay eggs. 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.

Description

Adults of T. gaigeae have a straight carapace length of 5 to 11 inches (13 to 28 cm).

Subspecies

• Trachemys gaigeae gaigeae (Hartweg, 1939)
• Trachemys gaigeae hartwegi (Legler, 1990)

• Species Trachemys gaigeae at The Reptile Database

• Behler JL, King FW (1979). The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 743 pp. ISBN: 0-394-50824-6. (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. ISBN: 0-395-19979-4 (hardcover), ISBN: 0-395-19977-8 (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. ISBN: 978-0874744682. (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. ISBN: 0-307-13666-3. (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. ISBN: 978-0-395-98272-3. (Trachemys gaigeae, pp. 253–254 + Plate 21 + Map 69).