The midland painted turtle, or Chrysemys marginata , resembles the eastern painted turtle, but also looks like the southern painted turtle in that it does not have parallel rows of scales on its shell. The western painted turtle has less red around the edges of its scales. These coloration features of each subspecies can aid in identifying the painted turtles. A particular display can be seen within the western painted turtles. This involves the male turtle swimming backwards next to the female and stroking her head with his claws on his front legs during the mating season.
Turtles are the oldest living members of the reptilian class.
This class is also the home to creatures such as the crocodiles, snakes, toads, frogs, and salamanders. The order is testudines. This order includes all turtle species. The family name is Emydidae. The genus name is referred to as Chrysemys and the species name as belli.