D'Orbigny's slider
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SPECIES
Trachemys dorbigni

D'Orbigny's slider or the black-bellied slider (Trachemys dorbigni ), commonly known in Brazil as tartaruga-tigre or tartaruga-tigre-d'água (which mean "tiger turtle" and "water tiger turtle" in Portuguese), is a species of water turtle in the family Emydidae. The species is found in southern Brazil, northeastern Argentina, and Uruguay. Two subspecies (in addition to the nominate subspecies) are recognized as being valid, Trachemys dorbigni adiutrix and Trachemys dorbigni brasiliensis.

Animal name origin

The specific name, dorbigni, is in honor of French naturalist Alcide d'Orbigny.

Appearance

The form of the plastron determines its gender. After a few years of life, show differences between male and female. Males have a penis that is inserted into the tail. It becomes apparent only during the mating season when it is inserted into the female's cloaca. D'Orbigny's slider has a life span between 30 to 100 years in captivity.

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They are usually found in water bodies such as lakes, marshes, streams and rivers. They have a preference for waters with low or moderate currents, soft bottoms and abundant aquatic vegetation.

Babies are born weighing 11 grams (0.39 oz) with a 3.5 centimetres (1.4 in) carapace. The average growth rate is about 3 centimetres (1.2 in) per year on wild, but in captivity it can grow faster being able to grow over 9 centimetres (3.5 in) in a year. The females can grow up to 30 centimetres (12 in) carapace and weight over 2.7 kilograms (6.0 lb), while the male can only grow 25 centimetres (9.8 in) carapace. When the males reach sexual maturity (after 2 years), they acquire a dark color while the females keep the same green after maturity (at 5 years).

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Geography

Habits and Lifestyle

Diet and Nutrition

These omnivorous turtles can eat almost anything in nature shrimps, vegetables, fruit, carrion, small fishes, snails, worms, etc.

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During the first two years of life these turtles are mainly carnivorous, eating small animals and carrion, but then they switch to being mainly vegetarian eating more vegetables and algae then meat.

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Mating Habits

Females produce an average of 10 eggs per buried nest; usually they bury two nests per season. Incubation ranges from 2 to 4 months. The eggs are laid under approximately 10 centimetres (3.9 in) of sand. The eggs are white-colored. Each egg on average measures 39.3 millimetres (1.55 in) in length and 25.8 millimetres (1.02 in) in width, weighing on average 14.9 grams (0.53 oz).

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Only 31% of the female population lays egg each year.

The sex of baby turtles is determined by the temperature of the sand during incubation, lower temperatures increase the number of females.

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Population

References

1. D'Orbigny's slider Wikipedia article - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D'Orbigny's_slider

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