Pond slider

The pond slider is a common, medium sized, semiaquatic turtle. Three subspecies are described, the best known of which is the red eared slider, popular in the pet trade and introduced to many other parts of the world by people releasing pets into the wild. Hatchlings and juveniles have a green upper shell, a yellow lower shell, and green and yellow skin markings that fade with age until the shell becomes a muted olive green to brown and the lower shell a duller yellow, with some individuals turning almost black. The oval upper shell carries a central ridge with knobs in young turtles that softens and flattens in adults. Adult males have much longer front claws than females, and adult females have shorter, thicker tails than males. Pond sliders can live between 20 and 50 years.