Western pond turtle, or marble turtle, is a small freshwater turtle with a smooth shell covered in dark lines on a light background. It lives in water bodies in western North America and spends a lot of time in the water.
The Marble turtle differs from related species by its characteristic marble pattern on the shell and life in cool water bodies. It is important for nature because it eats insects and serves as prey for birds and mammals.
Worker
Hot summer almost without rain
Tail size
birth time
live adult frogs and toads
Dogs, dolphins, lynx hang out for 9-25 years and party on their birthday three times a year
m
Map
will celebrate their {n} birthday
g
t
When your next jubilee falls in {name} life years
Human
days
Warm summer
How old you would be if you lived as {name}
crustaceans
Theoretical maximum lifespan estimated from the Dynamic Energy Budget (DEB) mathematical model. This value reflects a biological potential derived from metabolic parameters, not from direct observation — real recorded lifespans are often significantly shorter.
small planktonic crustaceans — copepods, krill
adult
Maturity
fish of small size
invertebrates
insects
About health
cool, lots of coniferous trees, snow in winter
When your next birthday would fall if you lived as {name}
Repro interval
results
summer warm and almost no rain
summer warm, winter not very cold
Carapace size
Colors
Sex
Upcoming jubilees
Gremllins
mo
Uses an excavated underground tunnel or chamber for refuge or nesting.
Trophic type
all living animals without backbone
Filters
small fish
searching and grabbing food with jaws in water and on shore
Upcoming birthdays
standing fresh waters — lakes, ponds, oxbow lakes
Truly long lives: 40-100 years. Bowhead whales, albatrosses, giant tortoises recall their birthday at most once a year
Lifespan
Limbs size
Age (juvenile)
Age (from birth to death)
Age (embryo)
Wanderers
algae
Jubilee = every 10th birthday
Earliest developmental stage inside an egg or womb.
Business sausages
Lifespan average
leaves
Regeneration
Carapace color
What do they look like?
Maturity
emergence (insects)
end of lifespan
How do they live?
fertilization / egg laying
How do they behave?
birth / hatching
metamorphosis / end of larval stage
end of acceleration
Share
swampy freshwater biotopes — peat bogs, marshes, river mangroves
Find a pet...
Mature, fully developed individual capable of reproduction.
Freshwater
Egg count
Pets
all rivers and lakes
Nearctic realm
Feeding occurs primarily on land or in vegetation.
{name} jubilee
cm
Temperate coniferous forest
Old-timers
Find an animal or breed...
desert and semi-desert
turns
Rascals
Flooded grasslands
Litter size
Map data sources: Ecosystem classification — IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology (Keith et al., 2022), indicative distribution maps Keith et al. (2020), https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3546513; Large Marine Ecosystems — NOAA LME Program; Bathymetry — GEBCO Bathymetric Compilation Group (2026), GEBCO_2026 Grid, https://doi.org/10.5285/4f68d5c7-45eb-f999-e063-7086abc036fa; Climate data — Generated using Copernicus Climate Change Service information; Species occurrence data — GBIF.org, Derived dataset "all animals", https://zveriki.com/dataset/dataset.tsv; Terrestrial ecoregions — RESOLVE Ecoregions 2017 (Dinerstein et al., 2017), CC BY 4.0
How to care for them?
Limbs count
Living from 25 to 40 years. Orangutans, bald eagles, African elephants celebrate their birthday twice a year
°C
Not specified
Actively searching habitats to locate food items.
Egg color
Where are they found?
Species lacks any fixed or lasting shelter structure.
all rivers and lakes
Summer almost without rain
Locomotion through water employed while searching for or capturing prey.
Legendary longevity: over 100 years. Galapagos tortoises, Greenland sharks, ocean quahogs celebrate with family once every 4 years
Offspring
Elders
Bro
lakes and ponds
freshwater marsh and wetlands
Taxons
freshwater pelagic
almost no rain in summer, more precipitation in winter
if born as {name}
omnivore
age
birth date
Head size
swimming
no permanent shelter
arid terrestrial biotopes with sparse vegetation
Close
was
Career from 7 to 15 months. Dwarf hamsters, voles, field crickets celebrate their birthday twice a month
The basics
coastal
My weight?
summer is hot and almost no rain falls
Non-stop carnival: they only live a few days. Mayflies, rotifers, midges celebrate their birthday more than twice a day
primary food sources
teeth
burrow
Potential Habitat
Very hot summer
d
In husbandry
On the go from 1.3 to 3.5 years. Forest mice, anoles, rainbow fish party on their birthday once a month
Feeding occurs in water bodies such as rivers, lakes, or oceans.
Mass
Plastron color
young shoots and leaves of plants
cold winter, lots of coniferous trees: spruce, pine
Mosquitoes, fruit flies, small crustaceans hustle for up to 7 months and throw a birthday party every week
terrestrial
Gestation
from 130 grams to 0.5 kilograms, 0.35 – 0.8 meters
aquatic
summer very hot, above +25…+30 °C
{name} birthday
Nearctic realm
No results found
North America and Greenland, from tundra to forests
On the map
Pleasant summer
all life stages
Female ♀
Map data sources: Ecosystem classification — IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology (Keith et al., 2022), indicative distribution maps Keith et al. (2020), https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3546513; Large Marine Ecosystems — NOAA LME Program; Bathymetry — GEBCO Bathymetric Compilation Group (2026), GEBCO_2026 Grid, https://doi.org/10.5285/4f68d5c7-45eb-f999-e063-7086abc036fa; Climate data — Generated using Copernicus Climate Change Service information; Species occurrence data — GBIF.org, Derived dataset "all animals", https://zveriki.com/dataset/dataset.tsv; Terrestrial ecoregions — RESOLVE Ecoregions 2017 (Dinerstein et al., 2017), CC BY 4.0
Potential habitat modelled from GBIF occurrence data. Map © Zveriki.com, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
open water in the water column of a freshwater body, away from the bottom and shore
birth year
Maturity
terrestrial habitat, land surface outside water
Plastron count
sq mm
yr
comfortable summer, +20…+25 °C
How similar?
Egg size
Male ♂
until the celebration
age as {name}
How do they breed?
On the go from 3.5 to 6 years. Hedgehogs, crows, lizards treat themselves to birthday snacks 6 times a year
What if eaten?
Neither
from birth to adulthood
What do they eat?
Where do they live?
Immature individual that has not yet reached reproductive maturity.
from birth to death
Hard dental structures used to bite, tear, or scrape food.
water often floods the land, lots of grass
Freshwater
Temperate mixed forest
Duration
live insects
This is me
Warm summer with almost no rain
freshwater
Gamers
aquatic plants and algae
How are they built?
frogs and toads
mm
Theoretical lifespan
ml
Stars
Link copied
My age?
wk
My size?
terrestrial
Carapace count
Taiga
Asexual
swap
freshwater environment — rivers, lakes, ponds, swamps
Rabbits, falcons, red-eared turtles hang out for 6-9 years and party on their birthday four times a year
Where do they take shelter?
Warm summer and lots of rain
Head color
celebrated their {n} birthday
When you would have been born if you lived as {name}
Daddies
Lifespan maximum
foraging
Hermaphrodite ⚥
North America and Greenland, from tundra to forests
embryo
Zucchini
summer warm, many oaks, birches, maples
Length
kg
lots of rain, warm and pleasant summer
Observations
◉{N} more on tap