Animals

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Unusual Turtle

White Rock lake has 2 species of cooters, river cooters and texas cooters. I often have a hard time knowing which is which and run them past a couple of turtle experts. So it is not surprising that some turtles show evidence that interbreeding may be going on. This one has characteristics of both species. It is an older male with a shell turning a reddish color with an intricate network of dark markings on the shell. This is called reticulate melanism. So interbreeding may have been going on for a long time.
Cooter hybrid (Pseudemys concinna x Pseudemys texana)

Pseudemys texana turtle aquatic turtle cooter reptile herps herp white rock lake dallas texas close up texas cooter creek between the lower spillway steps and the spillway hybrid Pseudemys concinna Pseudemys concinna x Pseudemys texana reticulate melanism melanistic turtle algae moss