Kinosternon is a genus of small aquatic turtles from the Americas known commonly as mud turtles.
Geographic range
They are found in the United States, Mexico, Central America, and South America. The greatest species richness is in Mexico, and only three species (K. dunni, K. leucostomum, and K. scorpioides) are found in South America.
Comparison between the plastrons of Sternotherus and Kinosternon
Description
They are very similar to the musk turtles, but generally smaller in size, and their carapaces are not as highly domed.
Mud turtles live in the ground layer on the bed of bodies of slowly-flowing or still water. By burrowing deeply into mud, mud turtles are protected from danger. They occasionally like to bask in the sun.[2]
Tabasco mud turtle - K. acutumCreaser's mud turtle - K. creaseriWhite-lipped mud turtle - K. leucostomum
Species
Extant
Central Chiapas mud turtle - K. abaxillare (Baur, 1925)
^Iverson, J. B., & Berry, J. F. (2024). Morphometric Variation in the Red-Cheeked Mud Turtle (Kinosternon cruentatum) and its Taxonomic Implications. Chelonian Conservation and Biology: Celebrating 25 Years as the World’s Turtle and Tortoise Journal.https://doi.org/10.2744/CCB-1589.1
^López-Luna, Marco A.; Cupul-Magaña, Fabio G.; Escobedo-Galván, Armando H.; González-Hernández, Adriana J.; Centenero-Alcalá, Eric; Rangel-Mendoza, Judith A.; Ramírez-Ramírez, Mariana M.; Cazares-Hernández, and Erasmo. "A Distinctive New Species of Mud Turtle from Western México". Chelonian Conservation and Biology. 2018.