The Status of the Painted Turtle, Chrysemys picta, in Tennessee and Kentucky

Abstract

Painted turtles were examined from Kentucky and Tennessee. Two zones of inter- gradation were established on the basis of several characters. These characters were the degree of disalignment of the carapacial seams, the presence of a dark plastral mark, the width of the light borders of the seam of the second lateral lamina, and the width of the dorsal stripe. A zone of intergradation occurs in eastern Tennessee between the subspecies Chrysemys picta picta and C. p. marginata. A second zone occurs in western Kentucky and northwestern Ten- nessee between C. p. marginata and C. p. dorsalis. The zoogeography of these zones is discussed. ** *