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Smooth Softshell vs. Ouachita Map Turtle

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

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Smooth Softshell

Apalone mutica

Ouachita Map Turtle

Graptemys ouachitensis
Smooth Softshell vs. Ouachita 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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