Colorado State Reptile

Western Painted Turtle Chrysemys picta bellii Adopted: March 18, 2008

Initiated by 4th-graders from Skyline Vista Elementary School, Denver, House Bill No. 1017 was signed by Governor Scott Ritter on March 18, 2008. On that date, Colorado became the 26th state to adopt an official reptile.

State Reptile: Western Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta bellii)
Photograph: Gary M. Stolz (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

Colorado Law

The following information was excerpted from the Colorado Revised Statutes, title 24, part 9, section 24-80-911.3.

TITLE 24 GOVERNMENT - STATE
STATE HISTORY, ARCHIVES, AND EMBLEMS
PART 9 STATE EMBLEMS AND SYMBOLS
SECTION 24-80-911.3

24-80-911.3. State reptile.

The western painted turtle (chrysemys picta bellii) is hereby made and declared to be the state reptile of the state of Colorado.

Source: L. 2008: Entire section added, p. 65, § 1, effective August 5.

Sources...

State of Colorado. Colorado Revised Statutes. Denver: State of Colorado, 2011. Web. 21 Jun 2011.
Shearer, Benjamin F. and Barbara S. State Names, Seals, Flags and Symbols: A Historical Guide Third Edition, Revised and Expanded. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 3 Sub edition, 2001.

State Reptile: Western Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta bellii)
Photograph: Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.

Additional Information

Western painted turtle images: Images from Google search.

Western Painted Turtle Chrysemys picta bellii: National Wildlife Foundation's eNature.com field guide.

Chrysemys picta bellii - (Gray, 1831), Western Painted Turtle: A network connecting science with conservation - NatureServe Explorer: An Online Encyclopedia of Life.

Chrysemys picta bellii (Gray, 1831): Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Here you will find authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of North America and the world.

State reptiles: Complete list of official state reptiles from NETSTATE.COM.

More symbols & emblems: Complete list of official Colorado state symbols from NETSTATE.COM.

Turtles

Turtles: The Animal Answer Guide, by Whit Gibbons and Judy Greene. 184 pages. Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press; First Trade edition (November 12, 2009) Ever wonder how many kinds of turtles there are? Or if they have teeth? Why so many turtles have yellow stripes on their neck? If it is wise to feed turtles in your neighborhood pond or lake? Whit Gibbons and Judy Greene, two internationally known turtle biologists, provide complete answers to the most frequently asked questions about the more than 300 turtle, tortoise, and terrapin species of the world.

Turtles of the
United States and Canada

Turtles of the United States and Canada, by Carl H. Ernst and Jeffrey E. Lovich. 840 pages. Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press; second edition edition (May 12, 2009) Ernst and Lovich's thoroughly revised edition of this classic reference provides the most updated information ever assembled on the natural histories of North American turtles.

Each species account contains information on identification, genetics, fossil record, distribution, geographic variation, habitat, behavior, reproduction, biology, growth and longevity, food habits, populations, predators, and conservation status. The book includes range maps for freshwater and terrestrial species, a glossary of scientific names, an extensive bibliography for further research, and an index to scientific and common names.