Striped mud turtle

Striped mud turtle
File:Kinosternon baurii 349332056 (cropped).jpg
Climbing a tree, Florida
Conservation status
Near Threatened Near Threatened  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Testudines
Suborder:	Cryptodira
Family:	Kinosternidae
Genus:	Kinosternon
Species:	K. baurii
Binomial name
Kinosternon baurii (Garman, 1891)
Synonyms
List Cinosternum baurii Garman, 1891 Kinosternon baurii — Lönnberg, 1894 Kinosternon bauri palmarum Stejneger, 1925 Kinosternon bauri bauri — Mertens, L. Müller & Rust, 1934 Kinosternon baurii baurii — Stejneger & Barbour, 1939 Kinosternon baurii palmarum — Stejneger & Barbour, 1939

The striped mud turtle (Kinosternon baurii) is a species of turtle in the family Kinosternidae. The species is native to the southeastern United States.

Etymology

The specific name, baurii, is in honor of herpetologist Georg Baur.

Geographic range

The striped mud turtle is found in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland, and Virginia.

Description

K. baurii has three light-colored stripes along the length of the smooth carapace. It can grow to a straight carapace length of 8–12 cm (3–4¾ inches).

• Carapace, Florida
  Carapace, Florida
• Carapace, Florida
  Carapace, Florida
• Carapace, Florida
  Carapace, Florida
• Plastron, North Carolina
  Plastron, North Carolina
• Plastron, Florida
  Plastron, Florida

Habitat and behavior

K. baurii is a common species found in freshwater habitats. It wanders about on land more than any other of the mud turtles and can sometimes be observed foraging for food in cow dung.

Diet

The striped mud turtle is omnivorous. It eats insects, snails, fish, carrion, algae, and plants. The striped mud turtle also eats dried up krill.

File:Striped mud turtle (Kinosternon baurii) (cropped).jpg

In captivity

Captivity

As a pet K. baurii is easy to care for, readily eating commercial turtle foods, feeder fish, and worms. Kept communally, they may exhibit aggressive behavior towards each other, most likely males are more inclined to fight than females.

Reproduction

Adult females of K. baurii nest from September to June. The eggs, which are slightly over 2.5 cm (1 in) long, hatch 13 to 19 weeks later. The hatchlings are about 2.5 cm (1 inch) in straight carapace length and, unlike the adult turtles, have keeled carapaces.

• Hatchling carapace, Florida
  Hatchling carapace, Florida
• File:Kinosternon baurii 329750171.jpg
• Hatchling plastron, Florida
  Hatchling plastron, Florida
• File:Kinosternon baurii 353856957.jpg

References

Bibliography

Further reading

• Behler, John L.; King, F. Wayne (1979). The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 743 pp. . (Kinosternon bauri, pp. 438–439 + Plate 317).
• Garman S (1891). "On a Tortoise found in Florida and Cuba, Cinosternum Baurii ". Bulletin of the Essex Institute 23: 141–144. (Cinosternum baurii, new species).
• Powell R, Conant R, Collins JT (2016). Peterson Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, Fourth Edition. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. xiv + 494 pp. . (Kinosternon baurii, pp. 223–224 + Plate 19).
• Smith, Hobart M; Brodie, Edmund D. Jr. (1982). Reptiles of North America: A Guide to Field Identification. New York: Golden Press. 240 pp. (paperback); (hardcover). (Kinosternon bauri, pp. 24–25).