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Smooth Softshell vs. False Map Turtle

The shell: Smooth Softshell — soft, flat and leathery; False Map Turtle — hard, with plates. The shell pattern: Smooth Softshell — plain, no pattern or dark spots or rings on a leathery shell; False Map Turtle — a fine net of pale lines, like a map. The head marks: Smooth Softshell — plain or several yellow stripes, no patch; False Map Turtle — a yellow spot or bar behind the eye. The ridge on the shell: Smooth Softshell — no ridge — smooth; False Map Turtle — a ridge with knobs or bumps along it.

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Smooth Softshell

Apalone mutica

False Map Turtle

Graptemys pseudogeographica
Smooth Softshell vs. False Map 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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