This is the first painted turtle that I’ve seen this year. He was basking and seemingly smiling amid the dead cattails in our lower pond yesterday. (I’m guessing that this is a male because of the relatively long and substantial tail. Among other sexual differences, female PTs have shorter, stubbier tails to facilitate mating.)
Painted turtles (Chrysemys picta) have existed for at least 15 million years, according to fossil records. These common natives to the United States evolved into four geographical subspecies during the last glacial age, which ended almost 12 thousand years ago.
Maine’s subspecies, shown here, is the Eastern painted turtle, Chrysemys picta picta; it’s the only subspecies with shell (“carapace”) segments (“scutes”) that occur in virtually straight rows and columns. The other subspecies are the Western, Midland, and Southern PTs. (Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on April 11, 2022.)