Loggerhead musk turtle

Loggerhead musk turtle
hatchling loggerhead musk turtle
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Subphylum:	Vertebrata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Testudines
Family:	Kinosternidae
Genus:	Sternotherus
Species:	S. minor
Binomial name
Sternotherus minor (Agassiz, 1857)
Synonyms
Sternotherus minor minor Goniochelys minor Agassiz, 1857 Aromochelys minor — Strauch, 1862 Sternotherus minor — Stejneger, 1923 Sternotherus carinatus minor — Carr, 1952 Sternotherus minor minor — Tinkle & Webb, 1955 Sternothaerus minor minor — Tinkle, 1958 Sternotheraerus minor minor — Wharton & Howard, 1971 Kinosternon minor — Iverson, Ernst, Gotte & Lovich, 1989 Kinosternon minor minor — Ernst & R. Barbour, 1989 Sternotherus minor peltifer Sternotherus peltifer H.M. Smith & Glass, 1947 Sternotherus carinatus peltifer — Carr, 1952 Sternotherus minor peltifer — Tinkle & Webb, 1955 Sternothaerus minor peltifer — Tinkle, 1958 Kinosternon minor peltifer — Ernst & R. Barbour, 1989

The loggerhead musk turtle (Sternotherus minor ) is a species of turtle native to the United States.

Geographic distribution

The loggerhead musk turtle can be found in the states of Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Tennessee.

Description

detail of head

The loggerhead musk turtle gets its common name from its unusually large head, compared to the common musk turtle (Sternotherus odoratus). Adults can be 8–13 cm (3–5 inches) in carapace length. Barbels are present on the chin only, not on the throat.

Habitat

Sternotherus minor lives in clean freshwater habitats.

Subspecies

Two subspecies are recognized, including the nominotypical subspecies.

Sternotherus minor minor (Agassiz, 1857)
Sternotherus minor peltifer H.M. Smith & Glass, 1947

Further reading

• Agassiz L. 1857. Contributions to the Natural History of the United States of America. Vol. I. Boston: Little, Brown, and Co. li + 452 pp. (Goniochelys minor, new species, p. 424).
• Behler JL, King FW. 1979. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 743 pp. ISBN 0-394-50824-6. (Sternotherus minor, p. 444 + Plates 311-312).
• McCoy CJ, Bianculli AV, Vogt RC. 1978. Sternotherus minor in the Pascagoula River system, Mississippi. Herpetological Review 9 (3): 109.
• Smith HM, Brodie ED Jr. 1982. Reptiles of North America: A Guide to Field Identification. New York: Golden Press. 240 pp. ISBN 0-307-13666-3. (Sternotherus minor, pp. 28–29).
• Smith HM, Glass BP. 1947. A new musk turtle from the southeastern United States. J. Washington Acad. Sci. 37 (1): 22-24. (Sternotherus peltifer, new species).

External links

Media related to at Wikimedia Commons.
Data related to Sternotherus minor at Wikispecies.