Big Bend slider facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Big Bend slider |
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| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Trachemys
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| Species: |
gaigeae
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The Big Bend slider (Trachemys gaigeae) is a type of water turtle. It's also known as the Mexican Plateau slider. These turtles live only in certain parts of the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. They belong to the Emydidae family of turtles.
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Where Big Bend Sliders Live
The Big Bend slider turtle is found in the United States in New Mexico and Texas. It also lives in northern Mexico, specifically in the state of Chihuahua. You can mostly find them in the Rio Grande, Rio Concho, and Rio Nazas river systems.
How the Big Bend Slider Got Its Name
The scientific name for this turtle, gaigeae, honors an American scientist named Helen Beulah Thompson Gaige. She was a herpetologist, which means she studied reptiles and amphibians. Helen Gaige found the very first Big Bend slider specimen in 1928. She discovered it in the Big Bend area of Texas.
About Their Scientific Classification
The Big Bend slider was first described by Dr. Norman Edouard Hartweg in 1939. He was a professor of zoology at the University of Michigan. At first, he classified it as a subspecies called Pseudemys scripta gaigeae.
Over time, scientists moved this turtle to different groups, first to the genus Chrysemys, and then to the genus Trachemys. Today, it is considered a full species on its own. However, you might still see it referred to by its older names in some books or articles.
How Big Bend Sliders Behave
Big Bend sliders spend most of their time in the water. You can often spot them warming up in the sun on rocks or logs. If something scares them, they quickly dive to the bottom of the water.
The only time these turtles spend a lot of time on land is when the females come out to lay their eggs.
These turtles are omnivores, meaning they eat both plants and animals. Younger turtles eat more meat. As they get older, they start eating more plants. Older adult Big Bend sliders eat almost entirely plants.
What Big Bend Sliders Look Like
Adult Big Bend sliders have a straight carapace (the top part of their shell) that measures about 5 to 11 inches (13 to 28 cm) long.
Types of Big Bend Sliders
There are two recognized types, or subspecies, of the Big Bend slider:
- Trachemys gaigeae gaigeae
- Trachemys gaigeae hartwegi
Images for kids
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A Big Bend slider turtle basking in the sun.
