The red-eared slider Trachemys scripta elegans ), also known as red-eared terrapin , is a semiaquatic turtle belonging to the Emydidae family. This is a subspecies of the pool slider. It is the most popular pet turtle in the United States and is also popular as a pet around the world. Therefore, being the most traded turtle in the world. It originates from the southern United States and northern Mexico, but has become established elsewhere due to the release of pets, and has become an invasive species in many areas, where these species compete with native species. The red-eared slider is included in the list of 100 most invasive species in the world published by IUCN.
Video Red-eared slider
Name
The red-eared sliders get their name from a small red line around their ears. The "slider" in their name comes from their ability to glide from rocks and wood and into the water quickly. This species was formerly known as the Troost tortoise in honor of an American herpetologist; Trachemys scripta troostii is now the scientific name for another subspecies, the Cumberland slider.
Maps Red-eared slider
Taxonomy
The Red-eyed slider belongs to Order Testudines, which contains about 250 species of turtles. This is a subspecies of Trachemys scripta Chrysemys scripta elegans .
Spesies Trachemys scripta berisi tiga subspesies: T. s. elegans (slider merah bertelinga), T. s. scripta (slider kuning-bellied), dan T. s. troostii (slider Cumberland).
Deskripsi
The carapace of this species can reach more than 40 cm (16 inches) in length, but the average length ranges from 15 to 20 cm (6 to 8 inches). Females of a species are usually larger than males. They usually live between 20 and 30 years, though some people have lived for more than 40 years. Their life expectancy is shorter when they are held in captivity. The quality of their environment has a strong influence on their life span and well-being.
These tortoises are poikilotherms, meaning they can not regulate their body temperature independently; they are completely dependent on their ambient temperature. For this reason, they need to often sunbathe to warm themselves and maintain their body temperature.
The shell is divided into two parts: the upper or back carapace, and the lower or lower ventral carapace. The upper carapace consists of the vertebral fibers, which form the middle part, which is elevated; pleural scales located around the vertebral fibers; and then the marginal scales around the edges of the carapace. The rear marginal track is notched. Serut is a reinforced keratin element. Carapaks are oval and flat (especially in men) and have a weaker keel that is more prevalent in younger children. The color of the carapace changes depending on the age of the tortoise. Karapaks usually have a dark green background with bright and dark markings, vary widely. In young turtles or newly hatched, it is green in leaves and becomes a bit darker as the tortoise grows old, until it becomes very dark green, and then changes the color between olive and brown and green. Plastrons are always light yellow with dark, paired, irregular marks in the center of most scales. Plastron varies greatly in patterns. Heads, feet, and tails are green with irregular yellow stripes. The entire shell is covered in lines and signs that help disguise someone.
Turtles also have a complete skeletal system, with partially webbed feet that help them swim and that can be drawn in the carapace along with the head and tail. The red line on each side of the head distinguishes the red eared slider from all other North American species and names this species, because the line lies behind the eye where the (external) ear is located. These lines can lose color over time. Some individuals can also have small marks with the same color on the top of their heads. The red-eared slider has no visible outer ears or external auditory canals; instead, it depends on the middle ear which is entirely covered by translucent triptant discs.
The main internal organs of these reptiles are the lungs, heart, stomach, liver, intestines, and bladder. Cloaca serves the functions of excretion and reproduction.
Sexual dimorphism
Some dimorphism exists between men and women.
Red-eared sliders look younger almost identical regardless of their gender, making it difficult to determine their gender. However, there are other methods for determining their gender, by checking for signs under their carapace. These signs will fade as the age of the tortoise. Much easier to distinguish the sex of adults, because the shell of an adult male is smaller than women. Red-eared slider men achieve sexual maturity when the diameter of their carapaces is '10 cm (3.9 inches) and women reach maturity when their carapace is 15 cm in size. Both men and women achieve sexual maturity in five to six years. Men are usually smaller than females, although these parameters are sometimes difficult to implement because the comparable individuals can be of different ages.
Men have longer claws on their front legs than females; this helps them hold on to the female during mating and is used when courtship is displayed. The male tail is thicker and longer, has dark sexual organs known as their penis, inside the tail. Typically, the female cloacal opening is at or below the rear edges of the carapace, while the male opening occurs outside the edges of the carapace. The male plastron is slightly concave, while the females are completely flat. The male concave plastron also helps to stabilize males in female carcasses during mating. Older men sometimes have a dark grayish-green melanistic color, with very soft markings. The red line on the side of the head may be difficult to see or do not have. The female appearance is substantially the same throughout her life.
Distribution and habitat
The red-eared slider comes from the area around the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico, in warm climates in the southeastern United States. Their home ranges from southeastern Colorado to Virginia and Florida. In nature, they inhabit areas with warm water sources, such as ponds, lakes, swamps, creeks, rivers, or streams that flow slowly. They live in calm water areas where they can leave the water easily by climbing to rocks or tree trunks so they can warm themselves in the sun. Individuals are often found basking in groups or even on top of each other. They also need aquatic plants that are abundant, because this is the main food of adults, even though they are omnivores. Turtles in the wild are always close to the water unless they are looking for new habitats or when females leave water to lay their eggs.
Due to their popularity as pets, red-eared sliders have been released or escaped into the wild in many parts of the world. Turtles are considered one of the worst invasive species in the world. Wild populations are now found in Australia, Europe, South Africa, the Caribbean Islands, Israel, Bahrain, the Mariana Islands, Guam, and Southeast Asia and Southeast Asia. In Australia, it is illegal for community members to import, store, trade, or release red sliders, as they are considered invasive species - see below. Their imports have been banned by the EU as well as certain EU member states. By 2015 Japan announced that it plans to ban imports of red slashers, but may not affect until 2020. Invasive red launchers cause negative impacts on the ecosystems they occupy because they have certain advantages over indigenous peoples, such as lower age when falling tempo, higher fecundity level, and larger body size, which gives them a competitive advantage on suntan and nesting sites, and when exploiting food resources. They also transmit the disease and expel other turtle species with which they compete for food and breeding space.
Behavior
The slider marked in red is almost entirely aquatic, but because they are cold-blooded, they leave the water for sunbathing to regulate their temperature.
Hibernate
Red Eared Slider does not hibernate, but is actually brumate; while they become less active, they sometimes rise to the surface to get food or air. Brumation can occur at varying degrees. In the wild, red-eared brumate sliders during winter at the bottom of a pond or shallow lake. They generally become inactive in October, when temperatures drop below 10 ° C (50 ° F). During this time, the turtles enter a soporific state, where they do not eat or defecate, they remain virtually immobile, and their respiratory rate drops. Individuals are usually brumate under water, but they have also been found under banks and stones, and in hollow stumps. In warmer winter climates, they can become active and surfacing for sunbathing. As temperatures begin to fall again, however, they rapidly return to the state of brumation. Sliders generally come for food in early March until the end of April.
During brumation, T. s. elegans can survive anaerobically for weeks, producing ATP from glycolysis. The turtle's metabolic rate dropped dramatically, with heart rate and cardiac output decreasing by 80% to minimize energy requirements. The resulting lactic acid is supported by minerals in the shell, preventing acidosis. A red eared slider in the prisoner room should not be brumate.
Reproduction
Marital and marital activities for red-eared sliders usually occur between March and July, and take place under water. During courtship, men swim around women and flap or shake the back side of his long claws in and around his face and head, perhaps to direct the pheromone toward him. The women swam toward the men and, if she was willing to accept, sank down to mate. If a female does not accept, she can become aggressive towards men. Dating can last 45 minutes, but marry takes only 10 minutes.
Sometimes, a man may appear to be another male dating, and when kept in captivity may also exhibit this behavior toward other household pets. Between male turtles, it can be a sign of dominance and can hinder a fight. Young turtles can perform courtship dance before they reach sexual maturity by the age of five, but they can not be married.
After marriage, women spend extra time sunbathing to keep their eggs warm. She may also have dietary changes, eat only certain foods, or not eat as much as usual. A female can lay between two and 30 eggs depending on body size and other factors. One woman can lay up to five grips in the same year, and the grip is usually 12 to 36 days. The time between marriage and laying can be several days or weeks. Fertilizing the actual eggs occurs during laying. This process also allows the laying of fertile eggs in the next season, because sperm can remain alive and available in the female body without any marriage. During the last weeks of pregnancy, females spend less time in the water and smells and scratches on the ground, indicating she is looking for a suitable place to lay her eggs. Women dig holes, use their hind legs, and put their eggs in them.
Incubation takes 59 to 112 days. Hatching at the end of the season can spend the winter in the nest and appear when the weather warms up in the spring. Just before hatching, eggs contain 50% turtles and 50% egg sac. A new hatchling breaks its eggs with its egg teeth, which fall about an hour after hatching. This egg teeth never grow back. Hatching can stay inside their eggshells after hatching for the first or second day. If they are forced to leave egg shells before they are ready, they will return if possible. When the hatch decides to leave the shell, it still has a small bag protruding from its plastron. The egg yolk sac is very important and provides nutrition when it is seen, and a few days later it will be absorbed into the turtle's abdomen. The pouch should be absorbed, and not fall. The split must heal itself before the turtle can swim. The time between egg hatching and the ingress of water is 21 days.
Excessive damage or movement of the protruding yolk, sufficient to allow air into the turtle's body, causing death. This is the main reason for marking the top of the turtle eggs if their relocation is needed for any reason. The upside egg will eventually end the growth of the embryo by a pouch that chokes the embryo. If it reaches the run, the tortoise will try to flip with the yolk sac, which will allow air to enter the body cavity and cause death. Another fatal danger is water entering into the body cavity before the sac is fully absorbed and when the opening is not fully healed.
The gender of the red eared slider is determined by the incubation temperature during the critical phase of embryonic development. Only males are produced when the eggs are incubated at 22-27 ° C (72-81 Â ° F), whereas females develop at warmer temperatures. Cold temperatures result in the death of the embryo.
Red-tagged slider as a pet
Red-eared slider turtles are the most commonly traded reptiles in the world, because they are relatively cheap, small in size and easy to maintain. Like other tortoises, turtles, and box turtles, individuals who survive the first year or two can be expected to live generally about 30 years. But they are the risk of infection, and when they grow up they can cause painful bites, resulting in much being thrown into the wild with negative ecological, social and economic impacts.
The risk of infection and US federal regulations on commercial distribution
Reptiles are asymptomatic (meaning they have no side effects) of bacterial carriers of the genus Salmonella . This has raised justifiable concerns given the many instances of human infection caused by handling of turtles, which has led to restrictions in the sale of red-eared sliders in the United States. The 1975 Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations prohibit the sale of (for general commercial and general use) of turtle and turtle eggs with a carapace length of less than 4 in (10 cm). This regulation is under the Public Health Service Act, and is enforced by the FDA in cooperation with state and local health jurisdictions. The ban came into effect because of the public health impact of turtle-related salmonellosis. Turtles and turtle eggs found offered for sale in violation of these provisions are subject to destruction in accordance with FDA procedures. Fines of up to $ 1,001 and/or imprisonment up to a year are penalties for those who refuse to meet a valid final request for the destruction of their turtles or eggs. Many shops and flea markets still sell small turtles because there are exceptions to FDA regulations that allow turtles under 4 inches (10 cm) to be sold "for bona fide purposes of scientific, educational or exhibit purposes , other than being used as a pet. "Like many other animals and inanimate objects, the risk of exposure to Salmonella can be reduced by following basic hygiene rules. Young children should be taught to wash hands immediately after they finish playing with the tortoise, feeding them, or changing the water.
US state law
Some states have laws and other rules about red slider ownership because they can be an invasive species where they are not genuine and have been introduced through pet trade. Now, it is illegal in Florida to sell wild-type red sliders, as they mate with local yellow-bellied slider populations - Trachemys scripta scripta is another subspecies of pool sliders, and hybrids are usually combine the sign of two subspecies. However, unusual color varieties such as albino and red pastel eared sliders, which come from captivity, are still allowed for sale.
Invasive species in Australia
In Australia, breeding populations have been found in New South Wales and Queensland, and individual turtles have been found in the wild in Victoria, Australian Capital Territory, and Western Australia.
Red-shifted turtles are considered an important threat to native turtle species - they mature faster, grow larger, produce more offspring and more aggressively. A number of studies provide evidence that red slider turtles can out-compete native turtles for food and nesting and sunbathing sites. Because red turtles have eared eating plants and animals, they can also have a negative impact on a variety of native aquatic species, including rare frogs. There is also a significant risk that red-eared slider turtles will transfer diseases and parasites to native reptile species. There is evidence that malaria-like parasites spread to two wild turtle populations at Lane Cove River, Sydney.
Social and economic costs also tend to be large. The Queensland government has invested nearly $ 1 million AUD in eradication programs to date. As outlined in the previous section, turtles may also have significant public health costs because of the effects of turtle-related salmonella on human health. Outbreaks in some states and fatalities in children, related to the treatment of salmonella-infected turtles, have been recorded in the US. Salmonella can also spread to humans when turtles pollute drinking water.
There have been actions taken by the state government to date, ranging from sustained eradication efforts by the Queensland government to very little action by the New South Wales government. Experts have placed the species ranking as a high priority for management in Australia and called for national preventive and eradication strategies, including joint education and compliance programs to stop illegal trade, ownership and release of slider turtles.
In popular culture
In the second volume of the Tales of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the popular comic book hero is revealed as a specimen of a red-eared slider. The popularity of Turtles causes insanity for keeping them as pets in Great Britain, and the subsequent ecological catastrophe because turtles are accidentally or deliberately released into the wild.
See also
- Yellow slider
- Cumberland slider
References
Further reading
- Rachel M. Bowden: "Modified Yolk Biopsy Technique improves the turtle egg's survival". Cal State East Bay Press Sep./Oct. 2009, ISSNÃ,1522-2152 pp.Ã, 611-615 ( online copies , p. 216, on Google Books)
- Carl H. Ernst, Jeffrey E. Lovich: Tortoise from the United States and Canada . Johns Hopkins University Press 2009, ISBNÃ, 978-0-8018-9121-2, pp.Ã, 444-470 ( online copy , p.444, in Google Books)
- James H. Harding: Amphibians and Reptiles of Great Lakes Region . University of Michigan Press 1997, ISBNÃ, 0-472-06628-5, pp.Ã, 216-220 ( online copy , p. 216, on Google Books)
- John B. Jensen, Carlos D. Camp, Whit Gibbons: Amphibians and Georgian Reptiles . University of Georgia Press 2008, ISBNÃ, 978-0-8203-3111-9, pp.Ã, 500-502 ( online copy , p 500, in Google Books)
External links
- Discovery Channel Animal Planet: Launcher marked in red
- Exotic animals: Information about water turtles & amp; the tortoise includes some special articles for the red-eared slider
- Gulf Coast Turtle & amp; The Tortoise Society: Natural History: Red-eared Slider
- RedEarSider.com, a site about caring for turtles in captivity
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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