''Kinosternon'' is a
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
of small aquatic
turtle
Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked t ...
s from the
Americas
The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World.
Along with th ...
known commonly as mud turtles.
Geographic range
They are found in the United States,
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
,
Central America
Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...
, and South America. The greatest
species richness
Species richness is the number of different species represented in an ecological community, landscape or region. Species richness is simply a count of species, and it does not take into account the abundances of the species or their relative ab ...
is in Mexico, and only three species (''
K. dunni'', ''
K. leucostomum'', and ''
K. scorpioides'') are found in South America.
Description
They are very similar to the
musk turtles, but generally smaller in size, and their
carapaces are not as highly
domed.
Diet
All mud turtles are
carnivorous, consuming various aquatic
invertebrate
Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...
s,
fish
Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of ...
, and even
carrion.
Species
Extant
*
Central Chiapas mud turtle - ''K. abaxillare''
(Baur, 1925)
*
Tabasco mud turtle - ''K. acutum''
Gray
Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed o ...
, 1831
*
Alamos mud turtle - ''K. alamosae''
Berry & Legler, 1980
*
Central American mud turtle - ''K. angustipons''
Legler, 1965
*
Striped mud turtle - ''K. baurii''
(Garman Garman is a surname or first name. Notable people with the name include:
Sports
* Ann Garman, All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player
* Judi Garman (born 1954), American softball coach
* Mike Garman (born 1949), American baseball pla ...
, 1891)
*
Jalisco mud turtle - ''K. chimalhuaca''
Berry, Seidel, & Iverson, 1996
*
Cora mud turtle - ''K. cora''
Loc-Barragán ''et al''., 2020
*
Creaser's mud turtle - ''K. creaseri''
Hartweg, 1934
*
Dunn's mud turtle - ''K. dunni''
Schmidt, 1947
*
Durango mud turtle - ''K. durangoense''
Iverson, 1979
*
Yellow mud turtle - ''K. flavescens''
( Agassiz, 1857)
*
Herrera's mud turtle - ''K. herrerai''
Stejneger, 1925
*
Rough-footed mud turtle
The rough-footed mud turtle (''Kinosternon hirtipes'') is a species of mud turtle in the family Kinosternidae. The species is endemic to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico.
Geographic range
''K. hirtipes'' is found in the Unite ...
- ''K. hirtipes''
( Wagler, 1830)
**Valley of Mexico mud turtle - ''K. h. hirtipes''
(Wagler, 1830)
**Lake Chapala mud turtle - ''K. h. chapalaense''
Iverson, 1981
**San Juanico mud turtle - ''K. h. magdalense''
Iverson, 1981
**Viesca mud turtle - ''K. h. megacephalum''
Iverson, 1981 (extinct)
**Mexican plateau mud turtle - ''K. h. murrayi''
Glass and Hartweg, 1951
**Patzcuarco mud turtle - ''K. h. tarascense''
Iverson, 1981
*
Mexican mud turtle - ''K. integrum''
(LeConte, 1954)
*
White-lipped mud turtle - ''K. leucostomum''
A.M.C. Duméril, Bibron & A.H.A. Duméril, 1851
**Northern white-lipped mud turtle - ''K. l. leucostomum''
A.M.C. Duméril, Bibron & A.H.A. Duméril, 1851
**Southern white-lipped mud turtle - ''K. l. postinguinale''
(Cope, 1887)
*
Oaxaca mud turtle - ''K. oaxacae''
Berry & Iverson, 1980
*
Scorpion mud turtle - ''K. scorpioides''
(Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...
, 1766)
**Scorpion mud turtle (subspecies) - ''K. s. scorpioides''
(Linnaeus, 1766)
**White-throated mud turtle - ''K. s. albogulare''
(A.H.A. Duméril and Bocourt, 1870)
**Red-cheeked mud turtle - ''K. s. cruentatum''
(A.M.C. Duméril, Bibron & A.H.A. Duméril, 1851)
*
Sonora mud turtle - ''K. sonoriense''
( Le Conte, 1854)
**Sonora mud turtle (subspecies) - ''K. s. sonoriense''
(Le Conte, 1854)
**Sonoyta mud turtle - ''K. s. longifemorale''
(Iverson, 1981)
*
Florida mud turtle - ''K. steindachneri''
( Siebenrock, 1906)
*
Arizona mud turtle - ''K.'' ''stejnegeri''
Gilmore, 1923''
''
*
Eastern mud turtle - ''K. subrubrum''
( Bonnaterre, 1789)
**Eastern mud turtle (subspecies) - ''K. s. subrubrum''
(Bonnaterre, 1789)
**Mississippi mud turtle - ''K. s. hippocrepis''
(Bonnaterre, 1789)
*
Vallarta mud turtle - ''K. vogti''
López-Luna ''et al''., 2018
Extinct
†''
Kinosternon arizonense''
Gilmore, 1923 (known from
Plio-Pleistocene
The Plio-Pleistocene is an informally described geological pseudo-period, which begins about 5 million years ago (Mya) and, drawing forward, combines the time ranges of the formally defined Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs—marking from about 5&nb ...
fossil
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...
remains, formerly considered
conspecific
Biological specificity is the tendency of a characteristic such as a behavior or a biochemical variation to occur in a particular species.
Biochemist Linus Pauling stated that "Biological specificity is the set of characteristics of living organis ...
with ''K. stejnegeri'')''
''
References
;Bibliography
*
{{Taxonbar , from=Q2500468
Turtle genera
Taxa named by Johann Baptist von Spix