The Southwestern Pond Turtle

The Southwestern Pond Turtle goes by a few other names as well. Some others include just Western Pond Turtle, Pacific Pond Turtle, or Actinemys marmorata, and it is basically a very San Diego turtle, since it is native to the area. This turtle is about 20 centimeters long, and the outer shell is called the dorsal. The different colors on different parts of the turtle decipher if it is a male or a female. The males have a light yellowish, or pale neck, while the females don't. These turtles will be pretty much in any body of water. Ranging from permanent and intermittent waters, including marshes, streams, rivers, ponds and lakes. These turtles are actually very intelligent as well! They will swim in very deep waters, and go under rocks. They might dig and get as far under the rock as they can, to eliminate the worry of predators getting to them. The Southwestern Pond Turtle usually only eats insects, fishes, tadpoles, and some smaller frogs. The turtles reproduce, and the female usually lays anywhere from five to thirteen eggs at one time. This happens twice a year. The female makes sure that wherever she lays her eggs is totally protected. In many cases, you would not be able to tell that she laid her eggs there, unless it was found by a predator.
These amazingly smart, and unique looking organisms really are a cool animal to have in our native land. San Diego is home to so many various animals, and it is really an amazing thing to see the different types of animals we have here, and also to see how the different organisms around them effect everything else. While these turtles don't have the worry of becoming extinct anytime soon, having the knowledge about these cool creatures really changes the way you think about the different aquatic lifeforms that we all usually think of.