The painted turtle is the most widespread native turtle of North America. It lives in slow-moving fresh waters, from southern Canada to Louisiana and northern Mexico, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The turtle is the only species of the genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 Chrysemys, which is part of the pond turtle family Emydidae

Emydidae

Emydidae, commonly called the pond turtles or marsh turtles, is a family of turtles. Previously, several species of Asian box turtle were classified in the family. However, revised taxonomy has separated them to a different family. Now, Emydidae, with the exception of two species of pond turtle,...

. Fossils show that the painted turtle existed 15 million years ago, but four regionally based subspecies

Subspecies

Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...

 (the eastern, midland, southern, and western) evolved during the last ice age.

The adult painted turtle female is 10–25 cm (3.9–9.8 in) long; the male is smaller.