Striped Mud Turtle vs. Eastern Mud Turtle

The two mud turtles of the Eastern Shore and the Virginia coastal plain share the same swamps and ditches, and northern Striped Mud Turtles often lack the shell stripes, so look at the head. A: Two yellowish or cream stripes, one above and one below the eye, running to the tip of the snout in the Striped Mud Turtle; mottled or speckled; any stripes stop short of the snout in the Eastern Mud Turtle. B: Often three pale stripes along it (many northern turtles have none) in the Striped Mud Turtle; plain, no stripes in the Eastern Mud Turtle. Both have the same big lower shell with two hinges. Young Striped Mud Turtles have an orange lower shell smudged black down the middle; young Eastern Mud Turtles a reddish one.

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

More comparisons

• Striped Mud Turtle vs. Eastern Musk Turtle
• Florida Mud Turtle vs. Striped Mud Turtle
• Eastern Mud Turtle vs. Diamondback Terrapin
• Eastern Mud Turtle vs. Eastern Musk Turtle
• Eastern Mud Turtle vs. Common Snapping Turtle
• Yellow Mud Turtle vs. Eastern Mud Turtle
• Mississippi Mud Turtle vs. Eastern Mud Turtle
• Stripe-necked Musk Turtle vs. Eastern Mud Turtle
• Florida Mud Turtle vs. Eastern Mud Turtle

Wildsight identifies the reptiles and amphibians of the United States. Every comparison