Hieroglyphic River Cooter
Scientific Name: Pseudemys concinna hieroglyphica
Identification: The Hieroglyphic River Cooter is very similar in appearance to the Eastern River Cooter. The carapace is rather flat, not highly domed. It is brown or olive with intricate yellow/cream markings. The characteristic C-shaped mark on the second pleural scute of the Eastern is absent on the Hieroglyphic. 
Hatchlings have a central keel which disappears with age. 
The skin is olive to brown, with yellow stripes. Wide, sometimes dark-edged, stripes under the chin form an upside-down "Y." The plastron is yellow and is marked with a well developed, large, dark pattern.
Hatchlings have a central keel which disappears with age. The skin is olive to brown, with yellow stripes. Wide, sometimes dark-edged, stripes under the chin form an upside-down "Y." The plastron is yellow and is marked with a well developed, large, dark pattern.Range: Western Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and western Georgia.
Diet: In the wild they feed on aquatic plants, grasses, and algae. Younger ones tend to seek a more protein enriched diet such as aquatic invertebrates, crustaceans, and fish. Older turtles may occasionally seek prey as well, but mostly partake of a herbivorous diet.
The river cooter is active from April to October over most of its range, but some remain active all year in Florida and the lower Gulf Coastal Plain streams. Winter months are spent in the mud or on the bottom of some body of water. Most activity is diurnal, although some females may nest after dark. This species forages in the early morning and late afternoon, with most time between spent basking in the sun. The river cooter is a shy species, leaving the water only to bask or nest, and will return to the water at the first indication of danger. They are frequently found in the company of other aquatic basking turtles (sliders and painteds) sometimes piled up on top of each other.
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