Trachemys scripta
Silhouette: DataBase Center for Life Science (DBCLS) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~70% in a week ~90%
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 |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Pond Slider sighting in Philadelphia on a given day, based on 564 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the most-seen of the 17 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March–April and June–July
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Pond Slider in Philadelphia on a given day, against about 10% in January, the lowest month.
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.
32nd of 143
Of the 143 cities where we can rate Pond Slider sightings, Philadelphia ranks 32nd at about 30%. The best odds are in Fukuoka (Japan, about 60%), Nagoya (Japan, about 50%) and Hiroshima (Japan, about 50%).
Same family: Emydidae
The closest relatives of the Pond Slider that you can see in Philadelphia (family Emydidae, Pond and Box Turtles) are Painted Turtle (about 20%) and Northern Red-bellied Cooter (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Pond Slider is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Philadelphia (564 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.
