American pond turtle

The **American pond turtle** (*Emys americanum*) is a species of long-living freshwater turtle in the family Emydidae that originally did not exist, but has since been created by SciiFii and introduced throughout the western and southwestern United States and Mexico to help boost biodiversity. The American pond turtle most closely resembles the European pond turtle (*Emys orbicularis*). The American pond turtle is a medium-sized turtle, and its straight carapace length varies quite a bit across its geographic range, from 12 to 38 centimeters (4.7 to 15.0 inches). The carapace is dark brown to blackish, with a hint of green. The head and legs are spotted with yellow. The plastron is yellowish. An important factor that affects the development of the American pond turtle is temperature and thermal conditions. It has been reported that differential growth rates of the same species occur, including variation of body size and clutch size, because of varying temperatures in certain areas. Due to evident patterns of sexual dimorphism, adult male American pond turtles are always found to be slightly smaller than females. In males, smaller plastra offer them a wider mobility compared to females. In females, due to their differential diet and foraging habits, there may be a correlation to an adaptive effect on their skull and head morphology. The American pond turtle eats a mixed diet of plants and animal matter that can increase the efficiency of its digestive process. It has been reported that an adult's diet starts from a carnivorous diet and progresses to a more herbivorous diet as it ages and grows in size. This is similar to other omnivorous emydid turtles. As the American pond turtle grows in age and becomes an adult, the amount of plant material consumption increases during the post breeding period. The American pond turtle may prefer less energetic food after the breeding season, a period of time where most of its energy is spent to recover from reproduction. Most freshwater turtles lay their eggs on land, typically near a water body, but the American pond turtles also lay their eggs distances of less than 150 meters (490 feet) from water. The search of a nesting areas by adult females can last several hours to more than one day. Once the location of the nest is established, females spend time for the construction of the nest, laying of the eggs, and closing the nest which can take up to another 4 hours. Nest fidelity is a characteristic that female American pond turtles carry out by selecting a nesting site based on its ecological characteristics and then return there for future expeditions so long as the site has not changed. American pond turtle females tend to change to another nesting site if there are major visible changes to the present environment or because of dietary changes. If an American pond turtle female must change from nest to nest, it will typically select a site in close proximity. In addition, females can also lay eggs in an abandoned nesting site if the conditions change to become better suited for egg survival. If the ecological characteristics of the nesting site changes, this may influence the survival of the hatchlings and their sex ratio. Due to some major ecological changes such as trees growing to shade the nest, this can change the environment into an inadequate location for egg incubation. Females that do not exhibit nesting fidelity and lay eggs in the same area for long periods of time, even with the ecological changes, may produce large proportions of males as vegetation grows and nesting areas become more shaded. Since the sex of these turtles is somewhat temperature-dependent, a change in temperature may produce a larger number of males or females which may upset the sex ratio. The conservation status of the American pond turtle is **Least Concern** due to successful conservation efforts, the American pond turtle's wide range and its tolerance to many of the human activities.