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Spiny Softshell vs. Northern Map Turtle

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

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Spiny Softshell

Apalone spinifera

Northern Map Turtle

Graptemys geographica
Spiny Softshell vs. Northern 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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