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Keeled Musk Turtle
- Colouration
- Unlike the allied species the head is dark brown or olive, profusely spotted with black. There are no traces of stripes.
- Dimensions
- The Keeled Musk Turtle attains a length of shell of five inches, but the proportions of a smaller specimen are given.
- Distribution
- The southern portion of the United States, from Georgia (inclusive) to Arizona (inclusive).
- Habits
- The general habits appeal to the other species of the genus.
The carapace is high and wedge-shaped, with a strong keel upon the rear portion, a character existing with young specimens of the two preceding species, but retained in the adult form of the present species. The head is proportionately larger than that of A. odoratus and the jaws are more strongly developed.
The carapace is dull olive or brown, with black spots or streaks, or radiating bars. The plastron is yellow.
Length of Carapace . . . . . 3 1/2 inches.
Width of Carapace . . . . . 2 3/8 inches.
Length of Plastron . . . . . 2 1/2 inches.
Width of Front Lobe at Hinge . . . . . 1 3/8 inches.
Width of Rear Lobe at Hinge . . . . . 1 3/16 inches.
The Genus Cinosternum.--Six species of Cinosternum occur in the United States and northern Mexico; they may be at once recognised from Aromochelys by the much broader plastron, the lobes of which can be drawn upward against the lower edge of the carapace, covering the limbs and fleshy parts. While the species of Aromochelys are usually known as Musk Turtles, the reptiles of the present genus are more generally called Mud Turtles, though they exude much the same musky odours as the former. Their habits are quite similar to those of the Musk Turtles.