ThirstyFish

The native Northern Red-bellied Cooter is a threatened species in Pennsylvania due to loss of habitat and competition with the invasive Red-eared Slider for food, habitat, basking and nesting sites. At the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge where this photograph was taken, Red-bellied Turtles can still be observed basking in the sun, but they are not as common as the Red-eared Sliders or Painted Turtles.

Herpetology is the branch of zoology that studies "creeping animals", namely amphibians and reptiles. If interested, you can read a study on the declining numbers of the Northern Red-bellied Turtles in Pennsylvania due to habitat loss and invasive species. The introduction of the paper is great general reading on invasive species and in particular the invasive Red-eared Sliders.

Below is a quick pictorial comparison of the three common basking turtles of JHNWR: The Painted Turtle, The Red Eared Slider and The Northern Red-bellied Turtle.