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The eastern mud turtle is a small and often hard to identify species. It measures 3–4 in (7.6–10.2 cm) in carapace length. The carapace is keelless, lacks any pattern, and varies in color from yellowish to black.
The Kinosternidae are a family of mostly small turtles that includes the mud turtles and musk turtles. The family contains 25 species within four genera, but taxonomic reclassification is an ongoing process, so many sources vary on the exact numbers of species and subspecies.
Kinosterninae is a subfamily of the family Kinosternidae, a family of aquatic turtles. Kinosterninae contains the genera Kinosternon and Sternotherus, which are native to much of the United States and northern Mexico. There are 27 species from 4 genera in the two subfamilies Staurotypinae and Kinosterninae. [1]
Mud turtles live in the ground layer on the bed of bodies of slowly-flowing or still water. By burrowing deeply into mud, mud turtles are protected from danger.
Sternotherus odoratus is a species of small turtle in the family Kinosternidae.The species is native to southeastern Canada and much of the Eastern United States.It is also known commonly as the common musk turtle, eastern musk turtle, [4] or stinkpot turtle due to its ability to release a foul musky odor from scent glands on the edge of its shell, possibly to deter predation. [5]
This is a checklist of American reptiles found in Northern America, based primarily on publications by the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles (SSAR). [1] [2] [3] It includes all species of Bermuda, Canada, Greenland, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, and the United States including recently introduced species such as chameleons, the Nile monitor, and the Burmese python.
Turtles in the genus Sternotherus are very similar to the American mud turtles in the genus Kinosternon, but tend to have a more domed carapace, with a distinctive keel down the center of it. Sternotherus odoratus typically grows to only 8–14 cm (3.1–5.5 in) in straight carapace length at full maturity, with females often being larger than ...
The underside of the turtle can be brown, grey, black, or yellow. The upper jaw has a blunt, smooth shape. The head of an adult is generally uniform in color. As in all side-necked turtles, the neck retracts the head sideways instead of vertically into the shell. [4] This species may be confused with the West African mud turtle.