Family: Kinosternidae, Musk and Mud Turtles view all from this family

Description Keeled carapace, overlapping vertebral scutes. Brown/orange with dark-borderd seams. Pinkish/yellow plastron. Dark spots/stripes on heads of males and spine-tipped tail.

Dimensions 8-13.5cm. (3 1/8-5 1/4")

Subspecies Loggerhead - 3 Dorsal keels, spotted head. Alabama through Georgia to Florida.
Stripe-necked - striped neck. Virginia through Tennessee, along Gulf & pearl river. Also Mississippi & Louisiana.

Breeding 1-4 egg clutches, 2-3 eggs per clutch. Eggs shells translucent when laid, darken during development. Hatch after 13-16 weeks.

Habitat Creeks, rivers, oxbows and ponds.

Range Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Tennessee.

Discussion Aquatic. Diet includes snails and clams. Crawls along bottom and hides under logs and vegetation. Young can produce musk even before hatching.