You are here » home › search results › Pseudemys rubriventris

Pseudemys rubriventris (LE CONTE, 1830)

IUCN Red List - Pseudemys rubriventris - Near Threatened, NT
iNaturalist logo

Can you confirm these amateur observations of Pseudemys rubriventris?

Add your own observation of
Pseudemys rubriventris »

Find more photos by Google images search: Google images

Higher TaxaEmydidae, Deirochelyinae, Testudinoidea, Testudines (turtles)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Red-Bellied Cooter, Northern Red-bellied Turtle, Eastern Redbelly Turtle 
SynonymTestudo rubriventris LE CONTE 1830: 101
Emys irrigata BELL 1835 (fide DUMÉRIL & BIBRON)
Emys irrigita [sic] — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1835: 276
Emys Rubriventris — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1835: 281
Emys rivulata GRAY 1844
Pseudemys rubiventris [sic] — BAUR 1893
Pseudemys rubriventris rubriventris BABCOCK 1937
Pseudemys rubriventris bangsi BABCOCK 1937
Pseudemys rubriventris bangsi BABCOCK 1937: 293
Chrysemys rubriventris rubriventris — FRITZ 1981
Pseudemys (Ptychemys) rubriventris — WARD 1984: 46
Pseudemys rubriventris bangsi — WHITE 1986
Pseudemys rubriventris rubriventris — ERNST & BARBOUR 1989: 213
Pseudemys rubriventris bangsi — ERNST & BARBOUR 1989: 213
Pseudemys rubriventris — CONANT & COLLINS 1991: 69
Pseudemys (Ptychemys) rubriventris — IVERSON 1992: 196
Chrysemys rubriventris bangsi — DODD 1997
Pseudemys rubriventris — CROTHER 2000
Pseudemys (Ptychemys) rubriventris — MCCORD et al. 2005
Pseudemys rubriventris — TTWG 2021
Pseudemys rubriventris — TTWG 2025 
DistributionUSA ((Pennsylvania, along the Atlantic Coastal Plain in New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Virginia, NE North Carolina, and west up the Potomac River to E West Virginia, relict populations in Plymouth county and possibly Essex county, Massachusetts)

Type locality: "in rivers from New-Jersey to Virginia, ... in such as are rocky; in the Delaware, near Trenton" [USA); Stated as "Delaware River, near Trenton, New Jersey" [USA) by Schmidt (1953:103)

Introduced to Korea (Chang et al. 2012).

bangsi: Type locality: Boot Pond, Plymouth, Massachusetts.  
Reproductionoviparous. 
TypesLectotype: MNHN-RA 9208 (designated by R. Bour, pers. comm. cited in Iverson 1992: 196). See also Bour 2003.
Holotype: MCZ 16778, adult, collected by H.J. Thayer, 1912 [bangsi] 
DiagnosisUnfortunately we had to temporarily remove additional information as this was scraped by multiple AI companies who sell that data to their customers. These details, e.g. detailed descriptions or comparisons (about 1939 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentSynonymy: partly after Rhodin et al 2010.

Diet: herbivorous.

Habitat: freshwater (lakes, ponds, rivers)

Type species: Testudo rubriventris LE CONTE 1830 is the type species of the genus Ptychemys AGASSIZ 1857.

Hybridization: P. rubriventris and P. floridana sometimes hybridize (Crenshaw, 1965).

Distribution: see map in TTWG 2025. 
EtymologyNamed for its red venter; referring to the reddish color of the plastron. 
References
  • Adler,G.H.; Austin,C.C. & Dudley,R. 1995. Dispersal and speciation of skinks among archipelagos in the tropical Pacific Ocean. Evolutionary Ecology 9: 529-541 - get paper here
  • Ambrose, Cypress; Abigail DeCesare & Randolph M. Chambers 2024. Population Demographics of Native Red-Bellied Cooters and Invasive Red-Eared Sliders in a Virginia Lake Chelonian Conservation and Biology Jun 2024 Vol. 23, No. 1: 113-118 - get paper here
  • Babcock, H.L. 1937. A new subspecies of the Red-Bellied Terrapin Pseudemys rubriventris (Le Conte). Occ. Pap. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist. 8: 293-294
  • Bour, R. 2003. Previously unrecognized original type specimens of American turtles collected by John Le Conte in 1828. Chelonian Conserv. Biol. 4 (3): 537
  • Bour, R. 2008. Global diversity of turtles (Chelonii; Reptilia) in freshwater. Hydrobiologia 595:593–598 - get paper here
  • Browne, Robert A.;Haskell, N. Alison;Griffin, Curtice R.;Ridgeway, Jeffrey W. 1996. Genetic variation among populations of the redbelly turtle (Pseudemys rubriventris). Copeia 1996 (1): 192-195 - get paper here
  • Chang, Min-Ho; Jae-Young Song and Kyo-Soung Koo 2012. The Status of Distribution for Native Freshwater Turtles in Korea, with Remarks on Taxonomic Position. Korean J. Environ. Biol. 30 (2): 151-155
  • Conant, Roger 1951. The red-bellied terrapin, Pseudemys rubriventris (Le Conte), in Pennsylvania. Annals of the Carnegie Museum 32: 281-291
  • Conant,R. & Collins,J.T. 1991. A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern/Central North America, 3rd ed. Houghton Mifflin (Boston/New York), xx + 450 p.
  • Crother, B. I. (ed.) 2012. Standard Common and Current Scientific Names for North American Amphibians, Turtles, Reptiles, and Crocodilians, Seventh Edition. Herpetological Circular 39: 1-92
  • Dodd, C. Kenneth, Jr. 1979. A bibliography of endangered and threatened amphibians and reptiles in the United States and its territories (conservation, distribution, natural history, status). Smithsonian Herp. Inf. Serv. (46): 1-35 - get paper here
  • Duméril, A.M.C., and G. Bibron. 1835. Erpétologie Générale ou Histoire Naturelle Complète des Reptiles, Vol. 2. Librairie Encyclopédique de Roret, Paris, iv + 680 p. - get paper here
  • Ernst, Carl H.; Lovich, Jeffrey E. 2009. Turtles of the United States and Canada, 2nd edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, 827 pp. - get paper here
  • Ernst,C.H. and Barbour,R.W. 1989. Turtles of the World. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C. - London
  • FLEMING, JILL; JENNIFER F. MOORE, HARDIN WADDLE, JULIEN MARTIN & EVAN H. CAMPBELL GRANT. 2022. Range-Wide Population Projections for Northern Red-Bellied Cooters (Pseudemys rubriventris). Journal of Herpetology 56(3): 362–369. - get paper here
  • Fox, James 2019. Pseudemys rubriventris (Northern Red- bellied Cooter). Catesbeiana 39 (1): 35 - get paper here
  • Fritz, U. 1981. Synonymie von Chrysemys concinna (LE CONTE 1830) mit Chrysemys floridana (LE CONTE 1830) mit Berücksichtigung von Chrysemys rubriventris (LE CONTE 1830), WERMUTH & MERTENS 1961. Herpetofauna 3 (11): 31-33 - get paper here
  • Garrison, John C. & Michael T. Jones 2025. Home Range and Survival of Headstarted Northern Red-Bellied Cooters (Pseudemys rubriventris) in Plymouth County, Massachusetts. Chelonian Conservation and Biology Jun 2025 Vol. 24, No. 1: 149-153 - get paper here
  • Graham T E 1991. Pseudemys rubriventris (LeConte). Red belly turtle. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (510): 1-4 - get paper here
  • Green, N.B., & Pauley, T.K. 1987. Amphibians and reptiles in West Virginia. Univ. of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, 241 pp.
  • GULETTE, ALISSA L.; DONALD J. BROWN, LAUREN SCHUMACHER & JAMES T. ANDERSON. 2022. Geographic distribution: PSEUDEMYS RUBRIVENTRIS (Northern Red-bellied Cooter). USA: WEST VIRGINIA: Berkeley Co. Herpetological Review 53 (2): 260.
  • Harris Jr., H.S. 1968. Reidentification of two Maryland Pseudemys. Bull. Maryland Herp. Soc. 4 (4): 97 - get paper here
  • Haskell, A., T.E. Graham, C.R. Griffin & J.B. Hestbeck 1996. Size Related Survival of Headstarted Redbelly Turtles (Pseudemys rubriventris) in Massachusetts Journal of Herpetology 30 (4): 524-527. - get paper here
  • HAYDT, NATALIE T.; DANIEL J. HOCKING & SEAN STERRETT. 2022. Spatial Capture–Recapture Derived Turtle Capture Probabilities and Densities in the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. Journal of Herpetology 56(2): 203–210. - get paper here
  • Iverson, John B. and Terry E. Graham. 1990. Geographic variation in the redbelly turtle, Pseudemys rubiventris (Reptilia: Testudines). Annals of Carnegie Museum. 59 (1): 1-13 - get paper here
  • Iverson, John B.;Graham, Terry E. 1990. Geographic variation in the redbelly turtle, Pseudemys rubriventris (Reptilia: Testudines). Annals of the Carnegie Museum 59 (1): 1-13 - get paper here
  • JACKSON, D. R., AND R. T. ZAPPALORTI 2020. Pseudemys nelsoni (Florida Red-Bellied Cooter) And Pseudemys rubriventris (Northern Red-Bellied Cooter). Kyphosis And Kyphoscoliosis. Herpetological Review 51: 113-114.
  • Kramer, D. 1967. A Red-bellied Turtle, Pseudemys rubriventris, from Kent County, Maryland. Bull. Maryland Herp. Soc. 3 (4): 103 - get paper here
  • Le Conte, J. 1830. Description of the species of North American tortoises. Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York 3 [1829]: 91-131. - get paper here
  • McCord, W.P., Joseph-Ouni, M. & Uhrig, D. 2005. Chelonian Illustrations # 23 - Red-bellied and River Cooters of North America. Reptilia (GB) (43): 79- - get paper here
  • Mitchell, J. C. & Reay, K.K. 1999. Atlas of amphibians and reptiles in Virginia. Specialty Publication 1, VA Dept of Game and Fisheries, 122 pp. - get paper here
  • Mitchell, J.C. 1994. The reptiles of Virginia. Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, ca. 350 pp.
  • Mitchell, Joseph C. 2014. Pseudemys rubriventris (northern red-bellied cooter) boat propeller mortality. Herpetological Review 45 (1): 117 - get paper here
  • Nemuras, K. & Sparhawk, T. 1966. Additional records of Pseudemys rubriventris and Pseudemys scripta elegans in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Bull. Maryland Herp. Soc. 2 (3): 6 - get paper here
  • Nickl, Sebastian 2017. Eine alternative Möglichkeit zur Haltung großer Schmuckschildkröten. Terraria-Elaphe 2017 (2): 72-74 - get paper here
  • Palmer, W.M. & Braswell, A.L. 1995. Reptiles of North Carolina. Univ. North Carolina Press
  • SCHNELL, LAUREN; GARRETT WHITE & SCOTT MCROBERT. 2022. PSEUDEMYS RUBRIVENTRIS (Northern Red-bellied Cooter). NESTING. Herpetological Review 53 (3): 491.
  • Seidel, Michael E. & Carl H. Ernst 2017. A Systematic Review of the Turtle Family Emydidae. Vertebrate Zoology 67 (1): 1–122 - get paper here
  • Seidel, Michael E.; and Palmer, William M 1991. Morphological variation in turtles of the genus Pseudemys (Testudines: Emydidae) from central Atlantic drainages. Brimleyana 17: 105-135 - get paper here
  • Spinks, Phillip Q.; Robert C. Thomson, Gregory B. Pauly, Catherine E. Newman, Genevieve Mount, H. Bradley Shaffer 2013. Misleading phylogenetic inferences based on single-exemplar sampling in the turtle genus Pseudemys. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 68 (2): 269-281 - get paper here
  • Stephens, P.R. & Wiens, J.J. 2003. Ecological diversification and phylogeny of emydid turtles. Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 79: 577-610 - get paper here
  • Stephens, P.R. & Wiens, J.J. 2009. EVOLUTION OF SEXUAL SIZE DIMORPHISMS IN EMYDID TURTLES: ECOLOGICAL DIMORPHISM, RENSCH’S RULE, AND SYMPATRIC DIVERGENCE. Evolution 63-4: 910–925 - get paper here
  • TTWG [TURTLE TAXONOMY WORKING GROUP: RHODIN, A.G.J., IVERSON, J.B., FRITZ, U., GALLEGO-GARCÍA, N., GEORGES, A., SHAFFER, H.B., AND VAN DuK, P.P.]. 2025. Turtles of the World: Annotated Checklist and Atlas of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution, and Conservation Status (10th Ed.). In: Rhodin, A.G.J., Iverson, J.B., van Dijk, P.P., Stanford, C.B., Goode, E.V., Buhlmann, K.A., and Mittermeier, R.A. (Eds.). Conservation Biology of Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises: A Compilation Project of the IUCN SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group. Chelonian Research Monographs 10:1-575 - get paper here
  • TTWG; Rhodin, A.G.J., Iverson, J.B., Bour, R., Fritz, U., Georges, A., Shaffer, H.B., and van Dijk, P.P. 2021. Turtles of the World: Annotated Checklist and Atlas of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution, and Conservation Status (9th Ed.). In: Rhodin, A.G.J., Iverson, J.B., van Dijk, P.P., Stanford, C.B., Goode, E.V., Buhlmann, K.A., and Mittermeier, R.A. (Eds.). Conservation Biology of Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises: A Compilation Project of the IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group. Chelonian Research Monographs 8:1–472. doi:10.3854/crm.8.checklist.atlas.v9.2021. - get paper here
  • TTWG; Rhodin, A.G.J.; van Dijk, P.P.; Iverson, J.B. & Shaffer, H.B. [turtle taxonomy working group] 2010. Turtles of the World, 2010 Update: Annotated Checklist of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution, and Conservation Status. Chelonian Research Monographs (ISSN 1088-7105) No. 5, doi:10.3854/crm.5.000.checklist.v3.2010 - get paper here
  • White, Christopher P. 1986. Freshwater turtles: Designed for survival turtles. National Geographic 169(1):40-59
  • Wilson, Emma M.; Laramie B. Mahan & Ivana Mali 2025. An Evaluation of Physical Abnormalities and Melanism in Freshwater Turtles (Testudines, Emydidae) of the Lower Pecos River, New Mexico, USA Chelonian Conservation and Biology Jun 2025 Vol. 24, No. 1: 56-66 - get paper here
 
External links  
Is it interesting? Share with others:

As link to this species use URL address:

https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Pseudemys&species=rubriventris

without field 'search_param'. Field 'search_param' is used for browsing search result.



Please submit feedback about this entry to the curator