striped mud turtle

{{Speciesbox

| image = Kinosternon baurii 349332056 (cropped).jpg

| image_caption = Climbing a tree, Florida

| status = LC

| status_system = IUCN3.1

| status_ref = van Dijk PP (2011). "Kinosternon baurii (errata version published in 2016)". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2011: e.T163429A97379931. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2011-1.RLTS.T163429A5605837.en. Downloade on 15 June 2021.

| genus = Kinosternon

| species = baurii

| authority = (Garman, 1891){{Harnvb|Rhodin|2010|p=000.96}}

| synonyms = {{collapsible list|bullets = true|title=List

|Cinosternum baurii
{{small|Garman, 1891}}

|Kinosternon baurii
{{small|— Lönnberg, 1894}}

|Kinosternon bauri palmarum
{{small|Stejneger, 1925}}

|Kinosternon bauri bauri
{{small|— Mertens, L. Müller & Rust, 1934}}

|Kinosternon baurii baurii
{{small|— Stejneger & Barbour, 1939}}

|Kinosternon baurii palmarum
{{small|— Stejneger & Barbour, 1939}}

}}

| synonyms_ref = {{Cite journal|journal=Vertebrate Zoology|title=Checklist of Chelonians of the World|date=2007|author=Fritz, Uwe|author2=Havaš, Peter|volume=57|issue=2|pages=251|doi=10.3897/vz.57.e30895 |s2cid=87809001 |issn=1864-5755|doi-access=free }}

}}

The striped mud turtle (Kinosternon baurii) is a species of turtle in the family Kinosternidae. The species is native to the southeastern United States.

Etymology

The specific name, baurii, is in honor of herpetologist Georg Baur.{{EMBL species|genus=Kinosternon|species=baurii}} www.reptile-database.org.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. {{ISBN|978-1-4214-0135-5}}. (Kinosternon baurii, p. 19).

Geographic range

The striped mud turtle is found in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland, and Virginia.

Description

K. baurii has three light-colored stripes along the length of the smooth carapace. It can grow to a straight carapace length of 8–12 cm (3-4¾ inches).

File:Kinosternon baurii 350774539.jpg|Carapace, Florida

File:Kinosternon baurii 352995030 (cropped).jpg|Carapace, Florida

File:Kinosternon baurii 342233173 (cropped).jpg|Carapace, Florida

File:Kinosternon baurii 387649212 (cropped).jpg|Plastron, North Carolina

File:Kinosternon baurii 348291078 (cropped).jpg|Plastron, Florida

Habitat and behavior

K. baurii is a common species found in freshwater habitats. It wanders about on land more than any other of the mud turtles and can sometimes be observed foraging for food in cow dung.

Diet

The striped mud turtle is omnivorous. It eats insects, snails, fish, carrion, algae, and plants. The striped mud turtle also eats dried up krill.File:Striped mud turtle (Kinosternon baurii) (cropped).jpg

Captivity

As a pet K. baurii is easy to care for, readily eating commercial turtle foods, feeder fish, and worms. Kept communally, they may exhibit aggressive behavior towards each other, most likely males are more inclined to fight than females.

Reproduction

Adult females of K. baurii nest from September to June. The eggs, which are slightly over 2.5 cm (1 in) long, hatch 13 to 19 weeks later. The hatchlings are about 2.5 cm (1 inch) in straight carapace length and, unlike the adult turtles, have keeled carapaces.

File:Kinosternon baurii 329750206.jpg|Hatchling carapace, Florida

File:Kinosternon baurii 329750171.jpg

File:Kinosternon baurii 353856949.jpg|Hatchling plastron, Florida

File:Kinosternon baurii 353856957.jpg

References

;Bibliography

{{Anchor|CITEREFRhodin2010}}{{cite journal|url=http://www.iucn-tftsg.org/wp-content/uploads/file/Accounts/crm_5_000_checklist_v3_2010.pdf|title=Turtles of the world, 2010 update: Annotated checklist of taxonomy, synonymy, distribution and conservation status|journal=Chelonian Research Monographs|volume=5|date=2010-12-14|author1=Rhodin, Anders G.J.|author2=van Dijk, Peter Paul|author3=Iverson, John B.|author4=Shaffer, H. Bradley|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717125632/http://www.iucn-tftsg.org/wp-content/uploads/file/Accounts/crm_5_000_checklist_v3_2010.pdf|archive-date=2011-07-17|url-status=dead}}