Editing Red-eared slider (section)

=== Sexual dimorphism ===
{{Main|Sexual dimorphism}}

[[File:Turle124.jpg|thumb|right|Male red-eared slider: Note the large claws on the front foot.]]
[[File:Pata Tortuga.JPG|thumb|Female turtle's foot: Note the short claws.|left]]

Some [[sexual dimorphism|dimorphism]] exists between males and females.<ref>{{cite web |title=''Tachemys scripta'' |website=Animal Diversity Web (Animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu) |department=UM Museum of Zoology |publisher=[[University of Michigan]] |place=Ann Arbor, MI |url=http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Trachemys_scripta.html |access-date=2010-03-16}}</ref>

Red-eared slider young look practically identical regardless of their sex, making distinguishing them difficult. One useful method, however, is to inspect the markings under their carapace, which fade as the turtles age. Distinguishing the sex of adults is much easier, as the shells of mature males are smaller than those of females.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Gibbons, J. Whitfield |author2=Lovich, Jeffery E. |name-list-style=amp |year=1990 |title=Sexual dimorphism in turtles, with emphasis on the slider turtle (''Trachemys scripta'') |journal=Herpetological Monographs |volume=4 |pages=1–29 |doi=10.2307/1466966 |jstor=1466966 |url=http://www.cnah.org/pdf_files/105.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105184800/http://www.cnah.org/pdf_files/105.pdf |archive-date=2013-11-05}}</ref> Male red-eared sliders reach sexual maturity when their carapaces' diameters measure {{convert|10|cm|in|abbr=on}} and females reach maturity when their carapaces measure about {{convert|15|cm|in|abbr=on}}. Both males and females reach sexual maturity at 5–6&nbsp;years old. Males are normally smaller than females, although this parameter is sometimes difficult to apply, as individuals being compared could be of different ages.

Males have longer [[claw]]s on their front feet than the females; this helps them to hold onto a female during [[mating]], and is used during [[courtship display]]s.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Mohan-Gibbons, Hm |author2=Norton, T. |name-list-style=amp |year=2010 |title=Behaviour of Exotic Pets |editor=Tynes, V.V. |chapter=Turtles, tortoises and terrapins |publisher=Blackwell Publishing |isbn=978-0-8138-0078-3 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dj4RbHOBztQC&pg=PA33 |via=Google Books}}</ref> The males' tails are thicker and longer. Typically, the cloacal opening of a female is at or under the rear edge of the carapace, while the male's opening occurs beyond the edge of the carapace. The male's plastron is slightly [[Concave polygon|concave]], while that of the female is completely flat. The male's concave plastron also helps to stabilize the male on the female's carapace during mating.<ref>{{cite book |author1=O'Rourke, D.P. |author2=Schumacher, J. |title=Laboratory Animal Medicine |editor1=Fox, James G. |editor2=Anderson, Lynn C. |editor3=Loew, Franklin M. |editor4=Quimby, Fred W. |chapter=Biology and Diseases of Reptiles |publisher=Academic Press |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-12-263951-7 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m2ftfPMJnMMC&pg=PA843 |via=Google Books}}</ref> Older males can sometimes have a dark greyish-olive green [[melanistic]] coloration, with very subdued markings. The red stripe on the sides of the head may be difficult to see or be absent. The female's appearance is substantially the same throughout her life.