Yellow-blotched Map Turtle vs. Pascagoula Map Turtle

The two map turtles of the Pascagoula River system bask on the same snags. A: A solid yellow or orange blotch on each side plate in the Yellow-blotched Map Turtle; olive with thin yellow lines and rings, no solid blotch in the Pascagoula Map Turtle. B: Tall, black-tipped spines, the highest keel of any map turtle in the Yellow-blotched Map Turtle; a low, knobbed keel with a black stripe along it in the Pascagoula Map Turtle. C: Narrow yellow stripes and a small yellow spot behind the eye in the Yellow-blotched Map Turtle; a big pale blotch behind the eye joined to one between the eyes; old females' heads huge in the Pascagoula Map Turtle. Old female Pascagoula Map Turtles reach 11.5 in, twice the size of a Yellow-blotched.

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

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