Big Bend slider

The Big Bend slider (Trachemys gaigeae), also called commonly the Mexican Plateau slider and la jicotea de la meseta mexicana in Mexican Spanish, is a species of aquatic turtle in the family Emydidae. The species is native to the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico.

Big Bend slider
Conservation status
Vulnerable  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Testudines
Suborder:	Cryptodira
Superfamily:	Testudinoidea
Family:	Emydidae
Genus:	Trachemys
Species:	T. gaigeae
Binomial name
Trachemys gaigeae Hartweg, 1939
Synonyms[2]
Nota bene: Dashes indicate scientific names which are simply new combinations, i.e., not new taxa. Pseudemys scripta gaigeae Hartweg, 1939 Pseudemys gaigeae — Stejneger & Barbour, 1939 Pseudemys scripta gagei Zweig & Crenshaw, 1957 (ex errore) Chrysemys scripta gaigeae — H.M. Smith & Taylor, 1966 Pseudemys scripta gaigei Ernst, 1967 (ex errore) Chrysemys gaigeae — Weaver & Rose, 1967 Pseudemys scripta gaigea Degenhardt & Christiansen, 1974 (ex errore) Chrysemys gaigae Ashton, Edwards & Pisani, 1976 (ex errore) Chrysemys gaigea — Morafka, 1977 Chrysemys scripta gaigae — Morafka, 1977 Trachemys nebulosa gaigeae — Ward, 1984 Pseudemys scripta gaigae — Stebbins, 1985 Trachemys scripta gaigeae — Iverson, 1985 Trachemys gaigeae — Dixon, 1987 Trachemys gaigae — Williamson, Hyder & Applegarth, 1994 Trachemys ornata gaigeae — Walls, 1996 Trachemys gaigeae gaigeae — Seidel, 2002 Trachemys scripta gaigae — Gurley, 2003 Trachemys nebulosa gaigae — Joseph-Ouni, 2004

Taxonomy

The species Trachemys gaigeae was first described by professor of zoology at the University of Michigan, Dr. Norman Edouard Hartweg, in 1939, as a subspecies, Pseudemys scripta gaigeae. Later, it was assigned to the genus Chrysemys, then to the genus Trachemys. Most recently, it was granted full species status,^[3] though many sources still refer to it by its various synonyms.

The Nazas slider (T. hartwegi) of the Nazas River in northern Mexico was formerly considered a subspecies of T. gaigeae, but was reclassified as a distinct species by the Turtle Taxonomy Working Group and the Reptile Database in 2021.^[4][5]

Geographic range

T. gaigeae is native to the United States in the states of New Mexico and Texas, and to northern Mexico in the state of Chihuahua. It is found primarily in the Rio Grande and Rio Concho.^[6]

Etymology

The epithet, gaigeae, is in honor of American herpetologist Helen Beulah Thompson Gaige,^[7] who collected the first specimen in the Big Bend region of Texas in 1928.

Behavior

Primarily aquatic, the Big Bend slider is often seen basking on rocks or logs in the water, and when approached quickly dives to the bottom.^{[citation needed]} The only time it spends a large amount of time on land is when females emerge to lay eggs.^{[citation needed]} It is an omnivorous species, with younger animals being more carnivorous, and progressively becoming more herbivorous as they age, with older adults being nearly entirely herbivorous.^{[citation needed]}

Description

Adults of T. gaigeae have a straight carapace length of 5 to 11 inches (13 to 28 cm).^[6]