Everglades Cooters

Peninsula Cooter, both, Florida Cooter (Red-bellied Turtle)

Peninsula Cooter (Yellow-bellied Turtle), both, Florida Cooter (Red-bellied Turtle)

The Everglades is such a rich ecosystem, in part, because so many of what would normally be considered separate habitats in their own right, mix and mingle in the Everglades. I an not certain how common a sight this is in South Florida, but we found both of the Florida Cooters (Turtles) sunning off the boardwalk on the Anhinga Trail at Royal Palms Visitor Center in Everglades National Park. And two of almost exactly the same size at that. 🙂 It is easy to figure out which is which. The Peninsula Cooter, or Yellow-bellied Turtle as it sometimes called, is the first frame and on the right in the group shot, and the Florida Cooter, sometimes called the Red-bellied Turtle, is the last frame and on the left in the group shot. You might assume, going by the pattern on the head, that these turtles are closely related, but, aside from obvious color differences, you might note that the front legs are distinctly different (different enough to me to imply very different behavior between the two species), and a practiced eye can see the difference in shell shape, which is distinctive. Not that I knew all of that when I started writing here. Besides color, the only difference I had observed before this morning was the front legs, which I did observe in the field.

We saw at least two other turtle species in the Everglades: a large Florida Mud Turtle, and a couple of big specimens the Florida Soft-shelled Turtle.

Sony HX400V. Processed in Lightroom and assembled in Fotor on the Surface Pro tablet.

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