THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY

Reptilia    Testudines    Emydidae  

Texas Cooter
Pseudemys texana Baur, 1893
SOO-deh-meez — tex-ANN-uh

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 There are no current SSAR comments for this taxon.

Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2023.04.10.09.45.15)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 0.16 MB

Province/State Distribution:
United States: Texas

Taxonomic Etymology:
Named for its Lone Star provenance.
Pseudemys — From Greek pseudes (ψευδής, “false”) and emydos (from Emys, the Old-World pond turtle). The coiners meant “false Emys,” signaling that, though these turtles resemble Emys, they are not members of that genus.
texana — Latinized form of “Texas,” indicating the species’ occurrence in the rivers and reservoirs of central and eastern Texas.

First instance(s) of published English names:
Texas Turtle (Pseudemys texana: Hurter, Julius. 1911. Herpetology of Missouri. Transactions of the Academy of Science St. Louis 20(5):59-274); Texas Terrapin (Pseudemys texana: Strecker, John K., Jr. 1922. An annotated catalogue of the amphibians and reptiles of Bexar County, Texas. Bulletin Scientific Society of San Antonio (4):1-31); Texan Terrapin (Pseudemys floridana texana: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Texas Turtle (Pseudemys floridana texana: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.);

Taxon Links:

  
Catalog of American Amphibians and Reptiles
  
The Reptile Database
  
NatureServe
  
iNaturalist
  
GenBank
  
USGS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database

Selected References:
1893 Baur, G. Notes on the classification and taxonomy of the Testudinidae. IV. The species of the genus Pseudemys. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 31:221-225
1980 Vogt, Richard C. and Clarence J. McCoy, Jr. Status of the emydine turtle genera Chrysemys and Pseudemys. Annals of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History 49(5):93-102
1990 Etchberger, Cory R. and Iverson, John B. Pseudemys texana Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (485):1-2
1996 Seidel, Michael E. and Carl H. Ernst. Pseudemys. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (625):1-7
1997 Siedel, Michael E. and Uwe fritz. Courtship behavior provides additional evidence for a monophyletic Pseudemys, and comments on Mesoamerican Trachemys (Testudines: Emydidae). Herpetological Review 28(2):70-72
2002 Seidel, Michael E. Hemoglobin variation and comments on systematic relationships in the turtle family Emydidae. Copeia 2002(4):1118-1121

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Friday 05 December 2025 16:58 CT