Trachemys scripta
Silhouette: DataBase Center for Life Science (DBCLS) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The pond slider (Trachemys scripta) is a species of common, medium-sized, semiaquatic turtle. Three subspecies are described, the most recognizable of which is the red-eared slider (T. s. elegans), which is popular in the pet trade and has been introduced to other parts of the world by people releasing it to the wild. Hatchling and juvenile pond sliders have a green upper shell (carapace), yellow bottom shell (plastron), and green and yellow stripes and markings on their skin. These patterns and colors in the skin and shell fade with age until the carapace is a muted olive green to brown and the plastron is a dull yellow or darker. Some sliders become almost black with few visible markings.
The carapace is oval with a bit of rounding and a central crest with knobs, but these features soften and fade with age, adults being smoother and flatter. For determining an adult slider's sex, males typically have much longer front claws than adult females, while females usually have shorter, more slender tails than males. Their lifespans range from 20 to 50 years.
The origin of the name slider stems from the behavior of these turtles when startled. Groups of sliders, sometimes... Wikipedia →
Recording0:16
Italy · 2026
© ScuolaValente_2C · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Congaree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Padre Island National Seashore | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Channel Islands National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Sierra de Guadarrama National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 5 | Parque Natural Metropolitano | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 6 | Monfragüe National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 7 | Soberanía National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 8 | Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Big Bend National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Cumbres de Monterrey National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 11 | Joshua Tree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 12 | Saguaro National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 13 | Great Smoky Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 14 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 15 | Everglades National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
No species of the same family or order lives in Durban, so these are its closest relatives here: other reptiles.
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Pond Slider sighting in Durban on a given day, based on 7 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 23rd most-seen of the 27 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June, August and December–February
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Pond Slider in Durban on a given day, against under 5% in March–May, July and September–November, the lowest months.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Pond Slider sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
140th of 143
Of the 143 cities where we can rate Pond Slider sightings, Durban ranks 140th at about 10%. The best odds are in Fukuoka (Japan, about 60%), Nagoya (Japan, about 50%) and Hiroshima (Japan, about 50%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Pond Slider is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Durban (7 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
