How do you know she's a Western Painted Turtle?

[dreamshark]

I knew she was a painted turtle because of the vivid orange and yellow markings. According to the Internets, the only painted turtle species in Minnesota is the Western Painted Turtle. It seems to be the prettiest of the 3 species, with the most elaborate markings on the plastron (lower shell):

Comments

[skylarker.livejournal.com]

She is pretty. I love her coloration. The green parts look like they would blend in with vegetation, but the oranges are so bright they seem unlikely to be protective coloration. At least they're not likely to be seen by the kind of predators that would come in from above. Maybe they look like sunlit water when seen from below while they are swimming?