Striped Mud Turtle vs. Eastern Musk Turtle

Both are small, dark, domed turtles with pale stripes on the head, in the same blackwater swamps and ponds; turn them over. A: Large, covering most of the body, with two hinges in the Striped Mud Turtle; small, with skin showing between the plates; the plates at the middle (pectorals) square in the Eastern Musk Turtle. B: Smooth and oval, often with three pale stripes (many northern turtles plain) in the Striped Mud Turtle; high, narrow and plain, often coated in algae in the Eastern Musk Turtle. Musk turtles have little fleshy barbels on the chin and the throat, mud turtles only on the chin; both give off a musky smell.

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

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