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Smooth Softshell vs. Common Box Turtle

The shell: Smooth Softshell — soft, flat and leathery; Common Box Turtle — hard, with plates. The shell pattern: Smooth Softshell — plain, no pattern or dark spots or rings on a leathery shell; Common Box Turtle — irregular yellow or orange blotches. The head marks: Smooth Softshell — plain or several yellow stripes, no patch; Common Box Turtle — yellow or orange spots or plain (these overlap, so it only helps).

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Smooth Softshell

Apalone mutica

Common Box Turtle

Terrapene carolina
Smooth Softshell vs. Common Box Turtle: comparison sheet with the differences marked

Photographs via iNaturalist under Creative Commons licences; the photographers are credited on the sheet.

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