Portrait of a painted turtle at Cuyahoga Valley National Park /JIM SCHMIDT

From Midwest National Parks:

“Try to be like the turtle – at ease in your own shell.” -Bill Copeland

The painted turtle (Chrysemys picta) is the most widespread native turtle of North America. It lives in slow-moving fresh waters, from southern Canada to Louisiana and northern Mexico, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The turtle is the only species of the genus Chrysemys, which is part of the pond turtle family Emydidae. Fossils show that the painted turtle existed 15 million years ago. Four regionally based subspecies (the eastern, midland, southern, and western) evolved during the last ice age. #mondaymotivation

Image: Portrait of a painted turtle at Cuyahoga Valley National Park /JIM SCHMIDT 

#animals #reptile #turtle #nature #wildlife 




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