I've seen T. scriptas in Virginia and the Carolinas that do not have RES markings and are not yellowbellies, but look like the slider in the old field guides before the subspecies were recognized. Also found a hybrid turtle in a pond where RES were introduced that appeared to be a cross between RES and the native "no ear" sliders. Whenever anyone asked I just called it a slider. Can anyone experienced with this turtle tell me if there are populations where NONE qualify as RES, or is it a genetic diversity found everywhere? (Not talking about cases of mistaken identity or within the range of yellowbellies or other subspecies.) If introduced RES are thinning the population of a genetically different slider, is it possible the range of this turtle is not known?

Len

[ Reply To This Message ] [ Subscribe to this Thread ] [ Show Entire Thread ]