This lifeform is found in Central America. This lifeform is found in freshwater such as lakes or rivers.

Painted Wood Turtle (Rhinoclemmys pulcherrima) is found along the western coast of Mexico south to the western coast of Costa Rica. This turtle has an unusual series of stripes at the end of its snout.

Emydidae Neotropical are well-represented in the New World tropics with several different slider species, wood turtles, and box turtles are known. Several of them are as follows:
  
     SCIENTIFIC NAME            GENERAL RANGE  
        (Common Name)

     Rhinoclemmys annulata      Central America to Ecuador
        (Brown Wood Turtle)
     Rhinoclemmys areolata      Mexico and Guatemala
        (Furrowed Wood Turtle)
     Rhinoclemmys funerea       Southern Central America
        (Black Wood Turtle)
     Rhinoclemmys nasuta        Ecuador
        (Large Nose Wood)
     Rhinoclemmys punctular.    Venezuela and northern Brazil
        (Spotted Legged)
     Rhinoclemmys melanosterna  Panama to Ecuador
        (Colombian Wood)
     Rhinoclemmys pulcherrima   West Central America
        (Painted Wood Turtle)
     Rhinoclemmys rubida        Mexico
        (Mexican Spotted Wood)
     Terrepane nelsoni          Western Mexico
        (Spotted Box Turtle)
     Trachemys decussata        Cuba
        (West Indian Slider)
     Trachemys terrapen         Bahamas and Jamaica
        (Jamaican Slider)
     Trachemys decorata         Hispanolia
        (Hispanolia Slider)
     Trachemys scripta          United States to Brazil
        (Pond Slider)
     Trachemys stejnegeri       Puerto Rico
        (Antillean Slider)
     Trachemys dorbigni         South Brazil
        (Brazilian Slider)

Water and Box Turtle family (Emydidae) is found frequently in North America. Representatives are also found in Europe, South America, and Asia. This group contains most of the familiar freshwater turtles of the world.

Turtle and Tortoise group (Order Chelonia) are among the most  primitive reptiles. They are egg-laying creatures characterized  by having four legs, a tail, and two shells each made up of many scales that are joined together. There are about two hundred and fifty species of turtles in the world. Carl  Ernst and Roger Barbour published a book entitled "Turtles of the World" by the Smithsonian Press in l989. This work covers all of the known species. The authors note that there are two hundred and fifty-seven species of living turtles. Many of these species are pictured and discussed here.

The following overview of the various families included in the Turtle Order is based on the aforementioned publication:

       SCIENTIFIC NAME     COMMON NAME         NUMBER OF SPECIES
       Pelomedusidae       Side Necked        23  species
       Chelidae            Side Necked        36  species
       Kinosternidae       Mud and Musk       22  species
       Dermatemydidae      River Turtle        1  species
       Carettochelyidae    Pig Nose            1  species
       Trionychidae        Soft Shelled       22  species
       Dermochelyidae      Leatherback         1  species
       Cheloniidae         Sea Turtles         6  species
       Chelydridae         Snapping turtles    2  species
       Platysternidae      Big Headed          1
       Emydidae            Pond and Box       91  species
       Testudinidae        Tortoises          50  species
                                       256 total species

While the above counts are currently reliable, they will be impacted by findings as research continues. For example, the exact count of the species of tortoises in the Galapagos and placement of the Florida Snapping Turtle might change these counts.

Reptiles (Class Reptilia) are an ancient group of scaled  chordates. These scales may be permanently joined, as in the  turtles, or flexible, as in the snakes. Reptiles are land-based. Their eggs are laid on land and the young are air breathing.

Backboned Animals (Phylum Chordata) are the most advanced group of animals on earth. These animals are characterized by having a spinal cord or backbone. Most members have a clearly defined brain that controls the organism through a spinal cord. Fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals are in this phylum.

Currently, some taxonomists believe that the fish should be divided into two groups (sharks and regular fishes) and that there are some other primitive groups in the phylum such as hagfish or lampreys.

Animal Kingdom contains numerous organisms that feed on other animals or plants. Included in the animal kingdom are the lower marine invertebrates such as sponges and corals, the jointed legged animals such as insects and spiders, and the backboned animals such as fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.