Turtles From a Swamp (East TN) (2 Viewers)

Hey folks,

I photographed five turtles laying on a log in a swamp in east TN. Four of the turtles seem like they are they same species (the four on the left in the photo). They turtle on the right may be a different species. Could the four on the left be some kind of painted turtle? In TN there are only south and eastern painted turtles. These turtles are a little muddy which is hampering easy identification for me.

The turtle on the right is somewhat separated from the rest and has noticeable yellow stripes. It could be a pond slider.

I've divided the photograph into the four turtles on the left and the single turtle on the right.

Any know about these turtles?

Thanks,

They all seem to be from the Painted / Slider complex, and not Map Turtles, as I see zero evidence of any mid-dorsal spines or ridges. Turtles tend to get darker and less colorful as they get older. One of the problems on the 4 together is we are only seeing the backs of the heads. My best guess is that they are all Red-eared Sliders that are old & muddy.

The shapes of the shells on these turtle was causing mean to lean towards painted and slider as well. I guess these photo aren't good enough to know for sure. I think these turtles have probably been in this little swamp for a long time because it's located on government land with no hunting, so they've probably been able to stay here without disturbance for a long time. Thanks for the help.

sliders

It looks slider to me!