THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY

Reptilia    Testudines    Emydidae  

Coastal Plain Cooter
Pseudemys floridana (LeConte, 1830)
SOO-deh-meez — flor-ih-DAY-nuh

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 Recognized as a species distinct from P. concinna by Turtle Taxonomy Working Group (2021, Chelonian Research Monographs (8): 1–472). (Taggart, Travis W. and John Carr. 2025. Testudines – Turtles. Pages 55-63 in Kirsten E. Nicholson (Editor), Scientific and Standard English Names of Amphibians and Reptiles of North America North of Mexico, with Comments Regarding Confidence in Our Understanding, 9th Edition. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Lawrence, Kansas. 87 pp.)

Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2023.10.18.14.54.55)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 0.15 MB

Province/State Distribution:
United States: Alabama Florida Georgia Illinois Louisiana Mississippi South Carolina Virginia

Taxonomic Etymology:
Named for the Sunshine State.
Pseudemys — From Greek pseudes (ψευδής, “false”) and emydos (from Emys, the Old-World pond turtle). The coiners meant “false Emys,” signaling that, though these turtles resemble Emys, they are not members of that genus.
floridana — Latin for “of Florida,” marking the species’ abundance on the Florida peninsula and nearby coastal plain.

First instance(s) of published English names:
Florida Emys (Emys floridana: Gray, John E. 1856. Catalogue of shield reptiles in the collection of the British Museum. Part I. Testudinata (Tortoises). Taylor and Francis, London, England. 79pp.); Southern Terrapin (Pseudemys floridana: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Florida Terrapin (Pseudemys floridana floridana: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Coastal Plain Turtle (Pseudemys floridana floridana: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.);

Taxon Links:

  
Catalog of American Amphibians and Reptiles
  
The Reptile Database
  
NatureServe
  
iNaturalist
  
GenBank
  
USGS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database

Selected References:
1830 LeConte, John E. Description of the species of North American tortoises. Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York 3:91-131
1935 Carr, Archie F., Jr. The identity and status of two turtles of the genus Pseudemys. Copeia 1935(3):147-148
1937 Carr, Archie F., Jr. A new turtle from Florida, with notes on Pseudemys floridana mobiliensis (Holbrook). Occasional Papers of the Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan (348):1-7 + 2 plates
1980 Vogt, Richard C. and Clarence J. McCoy, Jr. Status of the emydine turtle genera Chrysemys and Pseudemys. Annals of the Carnegie Museum 49(5):93-102
1996 Seidel, Michael E. and Carl H. Ernst. Pseudemys. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (625):1-7
1997 Siedel, Michael E. and Uwe fritz. Courtship behavior provides additional evidence for a monophyletic Pseudemys, and comments on Mesoamerican Trachemys (Testudines: Emydidae). Herpetological Review 28(2):70-72
2021 Rhodin, Anders G. J., John B. Iverson, Roger Bour, Uwe Fritz, Arthur Georges, H. Bradley Shaffer, and Peter Paul van Dijk. Turtles and tortoises of the world during the rise and global spread of humanity: First checklist and review of extinct pleistocene and holocene chelonians. Chelonian Research Monographs (8):1-472

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Wednesday 04 March 2026 00:35 CT