Big Bend slider

<h2 id="taxonomy">Taxonomy</h2>
The species Trachemys gaigeae was first described by professor of <a href="/facts/Zoology/6Kj13mBt">zoology</a> at the <a href="/facts/University_of_Michigan/6e1Ea5xh">University of Michigan</a>, Dr. <a href="/facts/Norman_Edouard_Hartweg/d5Vj4LRW">Norman Edouard Hartweg</a>, 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,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1">1</a> though many sources still refer to it by its various synonyms.
The <a href="/facts/Nazas_slider/uyz5785U">Nazas slider</a> (T. hartwegi) of the <a href="/facts/Nazas_River/WwmJXU6U">Nazas River</a> in northern Mexico was formerly considered a subspecies of T. gaigeae, but was reclassified as a distinct species by the <a href="/facts/Turtle_Taxonomy_Working_Group/yNQd3gqD">Turtle Taxonomy Working Group</a> and the <a href="/facts/Reptile_Database/GtgFV9sX">Reptile Database</a> in 2021.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2">2</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3">3</a>

<h2 id="geographic-range">Geographic range</h2>
T. gaigeae is native to the <a href="/facts/United_States/P0sCdLe5">United States</a> in the states of <a href="/facts/New_Mexico/wosJCGaW">New Mexico</a> and <a href="/facts/Texas/B987WHF0">Texas</a>, and to northern <a href="/facts/Mexico/IT5bwhdh">Mexico</a> in the state of <a href="/facts/Chihuahua_(state)/FCeDVWL0">Chihuahua</a>. It is found primarily in the <a href="/facts/Rio_Grande/utfAg59u">Rio Grande</a> and <a href="/facts/Concho_River/Xs9hbaYT">Rio Concho</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4">4</a>

<h2 id="etymology">Etymology</h2>
The <a href="/facts/Specific_name_(zoology)/RuH34bxb">epithet</a>, gaigeae, is in honor of <a href="/facts/Americans/srd9GJ5U">American</a> <a href="/facts/Herpetology/41JyLR79">herpetologist</a> <a href="/facts/Helen_Beulah_Thompson_Gaige/zylUX9BK">Helen Beulah Thompson Gaige</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5">5</a> who collected the first specimen in the <a href="/facts/Big_Bend%2c_Texas/SUgAAvUh">Big Bend</a> region of Texas in 1928.<a href="http://ebeltz.net/herps/biogappx.html">[1]</a>

<h2 id="behavior">Behavior</h2>
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. The only time it spends a large amount of time on land is when females emerge to lay <a href="/facts/Egg_(biology)/KyMSx9v4">eggs</a>. It is an <a href="/facts/Omnivore/b8zcsuJF">omnivorous</a> species, with younger animals being more <a href="/facts/Carnivore/q6h6aSqe">carnivorous</a>, and progressively becoming more <a href="/facts/Herbivore/me4YFdQA">herbivorous</a> as they age, with older adults being nearly entirely herbivorous.

<h2 id="description">Description</h2>
Adults of T. gaigeae have a straight <a href="/facts/Carapace/8VnnWH2b">carapace</a> length of 5 to 11 inches (13 to 28 cm).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6">6</a>

<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>
<ul><li>Species <a href="http://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species.php?genus=Trachemys&species=gaigeae">Trachemys gaigeae</a> at <a href="http://www.reptile-database.org/">The Reptile Database</a></li></ul>

<a href="/facts/Wikispecies/b2GhA7Le">Wikispecies</a> has information related to Trachemys gaigeae.

<h2 id="further-reading">Further reading</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/John_L._Behler/PIYLS9vf">Behler JL</a>, King FW (1979). The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 743 pp. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 0-394-50824-6. (Chrysemys scripta gaigeae, p. 453).</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Roger_Conant_(herpetologist)/fUn83kT6">Conant R</a> (1975). A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, Second Edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. xviii + 429 pp. + Plates 1-48. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 0-395-19979-4 (hardcover), <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 0-395-19977-8 (paperback). (Chrysemys scripta gaigeae, p. 63 + Figure 10 on p. 58 + Map 25).</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Norman_Edouard_Hartweg/d5Vj4LRW">Hartweg N</a> (1939). "A New American Pseudemys ". Occasional Papers of the Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan (397): 1–4. (Pseudemys scripta gaigeae, new subspecies).</li>
<li>Legler JM (1990). "Chapter 7. The Genus Pseudemys in Mesoamerica: Taxonomy, Distribution, and Origins". In: <a href="/facts/J._Whitfield_Gibbons/zwj7gjKu">Gibbons JW</a> (1990). Life History and Ecology of the Slider Turtle. Washington, District of Columbia: Smithsonian Institution Press. 368 pp. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-0874744682. (Pseudemys scripta hartwegi, new subspecies, pp. 89–91, Figure 7.5, Tables 7.2-7.6).</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Hobart_Muir_Smith/gnuPjqgA">Smith HM</a>, Brodie ED Jr (1982). Reptiles of North America: A Guide to Field Identification. New York: Golden Press. 240 pp. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 0-307-13666-3. (Pseudemys scripta gaigeae, pp. 56–57).</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Robert_C._Stebbins/lrTksMlu">Stebbins RC</a> (2003). A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians, Third Edition. The Peterson Field Guide Series ®. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. xiii + 533 pp. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-0-395-98272-3. (Trachemys gaigeae, pp. 253–254 + Plate 21 + Map 69).</li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1">"Trachemys gaigeae ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org. <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:2">"Trachemys hartwegi ". The Reptile Database. Retrieved 2022-03-28. <a href="https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species.php?genus=Trachemys&species=hartwegi" target="_blank">https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species.php?genus=Trachemys&species=hartwegi</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:3">Rhodin, Anders G.J. (2021-11-15). Turtles of the World: Annotated Checklist and Atlas of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution, and Conservation Status (9th Ed.). Chelonian Research Monographs. Vol. 8. Chelonian Research Foundation and Turtle Conservancy. doi:10.3854/crm.8.checklist.atlas.v9.2021. ISBN 978-0-9910368-3-7. S2CID 244279960. <a href="978-0-9910368-3-7" target="_blank">978-0-9910368-3-7</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:4">Powell R, Conant R, Collins JT (2016). Peterson Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, Fourth Edition. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. xiv + 494 pp., 47 plates, 207 figures. ISBN 978-0-544-12997-9 (Trachemys gaigeae, p. 217, figure 96). <a href="/wiki/Robert_Powell_(herpetologist)" target="_blank">/wiki/Robert_Powell_(herpetologist)</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:5">Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Trachemys gaigeae, p. 96). <a href="https://species.wikimedia.org/wiki/Bo_Beolens" target="_blank">https://species.wikimedia.org/wiki/Bo_Beolens</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:6">Powell R, Conant R, Collins JT (2016). Peterson Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, Fourth Edition. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. xiv + 494 pp., 47 plates, 207 figures. ISBN 978-0-544-12997-9 (Trachemys gaigeae, p. 217, figure 96). <a href="/wiki/Robert_Powell_(herpetologist)" target="_blank">/wiki/Robert_Powell_(herpetologist)</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
</ol>

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Big Bend slider