| Summary: | <i>Pseudemys</i> is a genus of commonly occurring freshwater turtles with limited growth information across their long lifespans. We used 11,361 mark-recapture events to estimate the somatic growth rates of <i>P. nelsoni</i>, <i>P. peninsularis</i>, <i>P. concinna suwanniensis</i>, and <i>P. texana</i> from freshwater springs and developed a Bayesian growth model to estimate the species-specific, site-specific, and individual effects on growth. We corroborated evidence for fast juvenile growth and slower adult growth in <i>Pseudemys</i> but found uncommonly fast growth rates, with turtles doubling or tripling in size in the first year. <i>P. texana</i> males had the smallest average maximum size (<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><msub><mi>L</mi><mo>∞</mo></msub></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>, 243 mm), while <i>P. c. suwanniensis</i> females had the largest (423 mm). Environmental conditions at springs had significant effects on <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mi>k</mi></semantics></math></inline-formula>, the growth coefficient, but not <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><msub><mi>L</mi><mo>∞</mo></msub></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>. We derived, using a ratio of length at maturity to <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><msub><mi>L</mi><mo>∞</mo></msub></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> (71.7% and 87%, males and females), that females matured 1.15–1.57 times older than males except for <i>P. c. suwanniensis,</i> which matured three times older. Given the local abundance declines in many <i>Pseudemys</i> from anthropogenic impacts, this study provides important baseline life history information for <i>Pseudemys</i> species for use in ongoing conservation efforts and presents a novel hierarchical modeling approach using a long-term mark-recapture dataset.
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