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Spiny Softshell vs. Pond Slider

The shell: Spiny Softshell — soft, flat and leathery; Pond Slider — hard, with plates. The shell pattern: Spiny Softshell — dark spots or rings on a leathery shell; Pond Slider — broad yellow bars or stripes on each plate or plain, no pattern. The head marks: Spiny Softshell — several yellow stripes, no patch; Pond Slider — a red or orange patch behind the eye.

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Spiny Softshell

Apalone spinifera

Pond Slider

Trachemys scripta
Spiny Softshell vs. Pond Slider: comparison sheet with the differences marked

Photographs via iNaturalist under Creative Commons licences; the photographers are credited on the sheet.

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