Home › Volumes › Reptiles › Turtles and Tortoises
Brown Soft-shelled Turtle
- Colouration
- The head markings are like the Spiny Soft-shelled Turtle--the bands uniting at the base of the proboscis; on many specimens the head markings are very obscure.
- Dimensions
- The smallest of the North American species, seldom attaining a length of shell of over ten inches. The measurements of a specimen taken in the Mississippi River, near St. Louis, Mo., are given:
- Distribution
- Central and northern tributaries of the Mississippi River and tributaries of the St. Lawrence. The species is not so widely abundant as the Spiny Soft-shelled Turtle.
From the two preceding species, (It must herewith be explained that the arrangement of the species is not according to technical classification, but in a fashion that will be most readily comprehended by the less advanced worker. In reality, T. muticus is most nearly allied to T. spinifer and should thus follow it, while the same condition relates to T. ferox and T. emoryi.) this soft-shelled turtle differs in the absence of spiny tubercles on the front margin of the carapace. It is also of smaller size and the head is proportionately narrower.
The carapace is brown or olive, and with but faint markings. They may be in the shape of short, line-like spots, or dull blotches.
Length of Carapace . . . . . 6 7/8 inches.
Width of Carapace . . . . . 6 1/8 inches.
Width of Head . . . . . 7/8 inches.