Hydrodynamic stability of the painted turtle (Chrysemys picta): effects of four-limbed rowing versus forelimb flapping in rigid-bodied tetrapods.

Aquatic turning performance of painted turtles (Chrysemys picta) and functional consequences of a rigid body design.

The ability to capture prey and avoid predation in aquatic habitats depends strongly on the ability to perform unsteady maneuvers (e.g. turns), which itself depends strongly on body flexibility. Two previous studies of turning performance in rigid-bodied taxa have found either high maneuverability or high agility, but not both. However, examinations of aquatic turning performance in rigid-bodie...

Molecular systematics, phylogeography, and the effects of Pleistocene glaciation in the painted turtle (Chrysemys picta) complex.

The painted turtle, Chrysemys picta, is currently recognized as a continentally distributed polytypic species, ranging across North America from southern Canada to extreme northern Mexico. We analyzed variation in the rapidly evolving mitochondrial control region (CR) in 241 turtles from 117 localities across this range to examine whether the painted turtle represents a continentally distribute...

Forelimb kinematics during swimming in the pig-nosed turtle, Carettochelys insculpta, compared with other turtle taxa: rowing versus flapping, convergence versus intermediacy.

Animals that swim using appendages do so by way of rowing and/or flapping motions. Often considered discrete categories, rowing and flapping are more appropriately regarded as points along a continuum. The pig-nosed turtle, Carettochelys insculpta, is unusual in that it is the only freshwater turtle to have limbs modified into flippers and swim via synchronous forelimb motions that resemble dor...

An enhanced developmental staging table for the painted turtle, Chrysemys picta (Testudines: Emydidae).

Normal developmental staging tables often undergo expansion and enhancement in response to advancing research paradigms and technologies. The Painted Turtle, Chrysemys picta, has long been a preferred reference taxon for comparative embryology and recently became the first turtle species to feature a sequenced genome. However, modern descriptive studies on embryogenesis are lacking and an earli...

Western Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta bellii)