American mud and musk turtle
The American mud and musk turtles, belonging to the family Kinosternidae, are a diverse group of approximately 25 species found across various aquatic habitats from Eastern Canada to Argentina. These turtles are named for their preference for muddy environments and produce a distinctive musky odor. They are generally small to medium-sized reptiles, ranging from the four-inch flattened musk turtle to the ten-and-a-half-inch scorpion musk turtle. Their diet is omnivorous, consisting of mollusks, insects, fish, and aquatic plants, which they consume using a unique feeding method known as the gape and suck technique.
American mud and musk turtles have a distinctive soft-bodied structure protected by hard shells, comprised of a carapace on the back and a plastron on the belly, connected by a bony bridge. They exhibit a range of colors, with carapaces in shades of brown, olive, or black, often featuring striking markings. Cold-blooded by nature, these turtles regulate their body temperature through their environment and possess the ability to breathe both through lungs on land and through their skin underwater. Reproducing in water, females lay eggs in nests dug in soil or rotting wood, typically producing clutches of four eggs. The incubation period for these eggs lasts about two to three months, and hatchlings are independent upon emergence. The lifespan of American mud and musk turtles varies significantly, ranging from five to fifty years based on species.
On this Page
Subject Terms
American mud and musk turtle
American mud and musk turtles are appropriately named, since they prefer to live in the mud on the bottom of the water and they give off a musky smell.
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Testudines
Family: Kinosternidae
Genus: Various (see below)
Species: Various (see below)
American mud and musk turtles make up the family Kinosternidae, which consists of about 25 species within four genera. These turtles live in rivers, streams, ponds, lakes, swamps, bayous, sloughs, and canals from Eastern Canada to Argentina. They are usually found on the bottom of the waterway looking for food. Mud and musk turtles are omnivorous, or meat-and-plant-eating creatures. They live on a diet of mollusks, insects, fish, and water plants which they suck into their mouths by opening their mouths and expanding their throats. This process is known as the gape and suck method. When the food is sucked into their mouths, a rush of water also enters. They eat the food and push the water back out.
Like other turtles, American mud and musk turtles are soft-bodied reptiles with hard, protective, outer shells. These shells are made of two parts. The parts covering the turtles' backs are the carapaces and the parts covering the turtles' bellies are the plastrons. These two parts are joined together by a bridge of tiny bones which extends upward from the plastron. American mud and musk turtles have drab brown, olive, and black carapaces with white, yellow, red, and orange markings. They have yellow, brown or black plastrons. American mud and musk turtles range in size from the four-inch (11 centimeter) flattened musk turtle to the 10 1/2-inch (27 centimeter) scorpion musk turtle. Like other reptiles, American mud and musk turtles are cold-blooded, meaning their body temperatures are the same as the temperatures of their surroundings. American mud and musk turtles breathe through their lungs when they are on land, and through their skin when they are under water.
American mud and musk turtles mate in the water, but lay their eggs on land. The females make their nests in litter or rotting wood. They dig out a hole and lay clutches, or batches, of one to nine eggs, but typically average clutches of around four eggs. Their eggs are laid in the late spring and early summer. Though many species of turtles exhibit no further relationship with their young after their eggs are laid, species of the Kinosterindae family have been known to stay with their eggs for a period of time, often in an attempt to protect their unhatched eggs from predation. When the eggs hatch, the young turtles, or hatchlings, make their way into the water and survive on their own. The time between when the eggs are laid and when they hatch is called the incubation period, which is about two to three months for mud and musk turtles.
American mud and musk turtles have a life span of between 5 and 50 years, depending on the species.
The four genera of American mud and musk turtles are:
Claudius
Kinosternon
Staurotypus
Sternotherus
Some species of American mud and musk turtle are:
Narrow-bridge musk turtle Claudius angustatus
Yellow mud turtle Kinosternon flavescens
Eastern or common mud turtle Kinosternon subrubrum
Flattened musk turtle Sternotherus depressus
Common musk or stinkpot turtle Sternotherus odoratus
Bibliography
“Kinosternidae: Classification.” Animal Diversity Web, animaldiversity.org/accounts/Kinosternidae/classification/#Kinosternidae. Accessed 8 May 2024.
“Mud and Musk Turtles (Kinosternidae).” Mud and Musk Turtles, www.turtlerescues.com/mud‗and‗musk‗turtles.htm. Accessed 8 May 2024.
Weiss, Bradley. “Kinosternon Flavescens (Yellow Mud Turtle).” Animal Diversity Web, animaldiversity.org/accounts/Kinosternon‗flavescens/. Accessed 8 May 2024.