Cat Island freshwater turtle

(Trachemys terrapen)

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Description

The Jamaican slider (Trachemys terrapen) also known as the Cat Island slider is a species of fresh water turtle in the family Emydidae.It is found in the Bahamas and Jamaica.As it is not currently found on any of the other surrounding islands in the region it is assumed that the Jamaican slider was introduced from one of these countries to the other.Even though the popular theory was that these turtles originated from Jamaica,current geological evidence may suggest that they were in the Bahamas long before the native Indians first went to the Bahama islands.There is also evidence from archeological sites on San Salvador that the native Indians ate these turtles and transplanted them around the West Indies.

Taxonomic tree:

Domain:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum:
Class: Reptilia
Order:Testudines
Family:Emydidae
Genus:Trachemys
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