Eastern Mud Turtle

Kinosternon subrubrum

Least Concern

The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary

The eastern mud turtle is a small, unobtrusive turtle of the ponds and marshes of the eastern United States. It spends much of its time buried in mud or walking along the bottom, and unlike most aquatic turtles it frequently travels overland between pools, which makes it vulnerable to being run over.

Weight

200 g – 500 g

Size

8 cm – 12 cm

Lifespan

50 years

Diet

Omnivore

Combines animal and plant food depending on availability.

Activity

Diurnal

Active mainly during the day.

Social structure

Solitary

Lives and hunts alone, joining others only to breed.

Sighting difficulty

Easy

FreshwaterGrasslandOmnivore Diurnal Solitary Reptile Freshwater Grassland

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Fun facts

It has a plastron with two hinges that let it partly close both ends of the shell, a mechanism midway between that of ordinary turtles and the airtight closure of the box turtles.
It aestivates buried in the mud when its pool dries out, and can stay that way for months waiting for the rains to return.
It travels considerable distances overland between pools, and that habit makes it one of the small turtles most often run over in the eastern United States.

Life cycle & biology

Skeleton type: Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton with a shell (reptile)
Habitat & environment: Shallow pools, marshes, ditches and slow streams of the eastern United States
Sexual maturity: 5 years
Gestation / incubation: 2.5 months
Litter / clutch size: 4

Sources consulted: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinosternon_subrubrum