#kinosternidae

[herpsandbirds]

Loggerhead Musk Turtle (Sternotherus minor), adult hiding and 2 hatchlings, family Kinosternidae, Panhandle of FL, USA

photograph by Seth Patterson

[uncharismatic-fauna]

Uncharismatic Fact of the Day

Watch out for the razor-backed musk turtle! This species is named for the distinctive peaked keel that runs down the center of its shell. As though that weren't enough protection, individuals will release a foul-smelling odor from their musk glands when threatened.

(Image: A juvenile razor-backed musk turtle (Sternotherus carinatus) by Sal Scibetta)

[herpsandbirds]

Stripe-necked Musk Turtles (Sternotherus peltifer), family Kinosternidae, AL, USA

Some herpetologists consider this to be a subspecies of the Loggerhead Musk Turtle, S. minor peltifer.

photograph by NKFherping

[herpsandbirds]

Narrow-bridged Musk Turtle (Claudius angustatus), family Kinosternidae, found in Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize

photograph by Michael Heaton

[herpsandbirds]

Eastern Mud Turtle (Kinosternon subrubrum), family Kinosternidae, Eastern U.S.

photograph by Adrian Bara-Popa

[herpsandbirds]

White-lipped Mud Turtle (Kinosternon leucostomum postinguinale), family Kinosternidae, Costa Rica

photograph by Cesar Barrio Amorós

[herpsandbirds]

Intermediate Musk Turtle (Sternotherus intermedius), family Kinosternidae, Panhandle of FL, USA

Once thought, incorrectly, to be a hybrid between 2 subspecies of Loggerhead Musk Turtle, they were elevated to species status in 2017, due to genetic data.

aka Aliflora Musk Turtle.

Endemic to the Choctawhatchee River and Conecuh River basins of the panhandle of FL and southern AL and MS.

photograph by Seth Patterson

[herpsandbirds]

Narrow-bridged Mud Turtle (Kinosternon angustipons), family Kinosternidae

This turtle is one of dozens of species in Central America that remain understudied, with so much left to discover. This spring, our team trekked into Central America to begin uncovering some of these mysteries. This work is critical to protecting species that could vanish before we ever understand how to stop their extinction. Some of these efforts recently came to fruition with the publication of the paper, “In Search of the Narrow-bridged Mud Turtle, Kinosternon angustipons Legler, 1965: A Knowledge Gap and Forgotten Species” in Herpetology Notes. The paper is co-authored by TSA team members Eric Muscher, Natalia Gallego-Garcia, and Andrew Walde, alongside Emmanuel Bello-Suazo, Rio D. Para, Cristian Ramirez, Norberto F. Solano Cordero, Zachary Siders, and Arron Tuggle. Since the species was first described in 1965, almost nothing has been published about it. We’re proud to help advance discovery for this turtle and for dozens of other species still in need of research. Read the paper here: https://herpetologynotes.org/index.php/hn/article/view/293

IUCN Red List Status: Vulnerable (Last assessed in 1996, but no new research available to update the status) Photograph by Rio Dante Para

via: Turtle Survival Alliance