the.com/painted turtle
a dashboard-loving reptile that survives winter by letting its heart politely stop
means A small freshwater turtle of North America, named for the bright red and yellow markings along the edges of its dark shell and on its skin.
from The 'turtle' is the curious part: it likely came into English from the French 'tortue,' but sailors seem to have muddled it together with 'turtle dove' (an unrelated bird whose name imitates its cooing 'tur-tur' call), so the reptile borrowed the bird's word. 'Painted' is plain English doing plain work — these turtles look brushed with color, so colonists simply called them what they saw.
- frozen solid
- hatchlings endure body temperatures below freezing
- no oxygen
- survives months underwater without breathing
- space traveler
- painted turtles orbited the Moon aboard Zond 5
- sun ranks
- basking turtles stack by social hierarchy
- butt breathing
- absorbs winter oxygen through its rear end
chrysemys picta — the scientific name for painted turtles, found across north america from canada to mexico
eastern painted turtle — subspecies with red markings on shell and skin, common in northeastern united states and canada
western painted turtle — subspecies found from the great plains to the pacific coast, with yellow striping on carapace