Adult female. Photograph by James Buskirk
This unlikely looking hillside in Los Angeles County is habitat for possibly the last replicating population of the southwestern pond turtle west of the Santa Monica Mountains. Hatchlings and young can be found here year round in heavily shaded, deep rocky pools, like that seen on the right, whenever they contain water (note the well camouflaged, greenish yearling in the center). Introduced bullfrogs, a major predator elsewhere, are absent from the immediate vicinity, probably because of the ephemeral nature of these rock pools. Photographs by Michael J. Connor
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Pacific Pond Turtle, Clemmys marmorata by R. B. Bury
Plastron of adult female shown at the left.
Photograph by James Buskirk
Adult female from southern California
Photographs by Michael J. Connor
Actinemys marmorata young in habitat. Hatchling hides in scrub by a settling pond that holds one of the few extent populations on the floor of the San Joaquin Valley. Photograph by Michael J. Connor
Actinemys marmorata adult in habitat seen basking on a snag, 4 foot above the water, in a north Los Angeles County lake. Photograph by Michael J. Connor
