Art of Sunbathing the Turtle Way

Plymouth red-bellied turtle. Current thinking is that Plymouth red-bellied turtles are not a full subspecies (described as Pseudemys rubriventris bangsi) and th...
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Plymouth red-bellied turtle. Current thinking is that Plymouth red-bellied turtles are not a full subspecies (described as Pseudemys rubriventris bangsi) and that they belong in synonymy under Pseudemys rubriventris or northern red-bellied cooter. Nevertheless, it is well recognized that the Plymouth red-bellied turtle extends the range of the northern red-bellied cooter by 30–40 percent.

This turtle gets its name from its reddish plastron or undershell. They have flattened or slightly concave vertebral scutes with a red bar on each marginal scute. Their upper shell or carapace ranges from brown to black. An arrow-shaped stripe runs atop head, between the eyes, to their snout. Adults are 10–12.5 inches (25–32 cm). Males have elongated, straight claws on the front feet
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