The musk turtle is also known as the Mississippi musk turtle. It was first found in Alabama in 1994, but was mainly claimed in Mississippi, hence the second name.[4]
However, it is only found in certain parts of those states except Louisiana. It is found in southeastern Oklahoma, southern and eastern Texas, southern Arkansas, south-central Mississippi, and extreme southwestern Alabama.[4]
Description
The razor-backed musk turtle grows to a straight carapace length of about 15 cm (5.9 in). It has a brown-colored carapace, with black markings at the edges of each scute. The carapace has a distinct, sharp keel down the center of its length, giving the species its common name.[5]
The body is typically grey-brown in color, with black spotting, as is the head, which tends to have a bulbous shape to it. It has a long neck, short legs, and a sharp beak. Males can usually be distinguished from females by their longer tails.
Aas the name suggests, they do have a smell. They use this as a defense mechanism, produced through the musk glands. However, the razor-backed musk turtle is known to not produce as much of a smell, especially the captive turtles.[7]
Retracted into shell
Carapace
Plastron
Behavior
S. carinatus is almost entirely aquatic, spending most of its time in shallow, heavily vegetated, slow-moving creeks, ponds, streams, and swamps.[8] The only time it typically ventures onto land is when the female lays eggs.[9] However, both sexes bask often.[6] This species is mainly aquatic, but the turtles often like to take advantage of emergent deadwood to bask. This species enjoys basking more than other species in the same family. This helps the turtles stay in safe areas away from other turtles, lowering competition.[10]
Reproduction
Females tend to reach sexual maturity in four or five years, and males mature in five or six years. For captive turtles, the mating occurs in March, and the eggs are laid in early May and early June. The females lay about one to two batches of eggs per year, with about 5-7 eggs in each batch. Turtles not in captivity have about 2 eggs per batch.[11]
These turtles have many predators because of their small size. Predators include alligator snapping turtles, water snakes, predaceous diving beetles and other similar species.[10]
In captivity
The razor-backed musk turtle is frequently kept in captivity, and is regularly captive bred.[14] Its relatively small size, hardiness and ease of care makes it a more attractive choice as a pet turtle for many keepers, than the more commonly available red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans).[14] There is disagreement in sources how old musk turtles can get in captivity with estimates ranging between 20 and 50 years.[15][14]
^Behler JL, King FW (1979). The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 743 pp., 657 colored plates. ISBN0-394-50824-6. (Sternotherus carinatus, p. 443 + Plate 310).
^ abConant R (1975). A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, Second Edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. xviii + 429 pp. ISBN0-395-19979-4 (hardcover), ISBN0-395-19977-8 (paperback). (Sternotherus carinatus, pp. 41, 46 (Fig. 7) + Plate 4 + Map 9).
^Team, Enviroliteracy (2025-04-18). "How smelly are musk turtles?". The Environmental Literacy Council. Retrieved 2025-05-05.
^Smith HM, Brodie ED Jr (1982). Reptiles of North America: A Guide to Field Identification. New York: Golden Press. 240 pp. ISBN0-307-47009-1 (hardcover), ISBN0-307-13666-3 (paperback). (Sternotherus carinatus, pp. 28–29).
^Atkinson, Carla L. (2013). "Razor-Backed Musk Turtle (Sternotherus carinatus) Diet Across a Gradient of Invasion". Herpetological Conservation and Biology8 (3): 561–570.
Boulenger GA (1889). Catalogue of the Chelonians, Rhynchocephalians, and Crocodiles in the British Museum (Natural History). New Edition. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). x + 311 pp. + Plates I–VI. (Cinosternum carinatum, p. 38).
Carr AF (1952). Handbook of Turtles: The Turtles of the United States, Canada, and Baja California. Ithaca, New York: Comstock Publishing Associates, a Division of Cornell University Press. 542 pp.
Goin CJ, Goin OB, Zug GR (1978). Introduction to Herpetology, Third Edition. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman. xi + 378 pp. ISBN0-7167-0020-4. (Sternotherus carinatus, p. 263).
Gray JE (1856). "On some New Species of Freshwater Tortoises from North America, Ceylon and Australia". Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Second Series18: 263–268. (Aromochelys carinata, new species, p. 266).
Powell R, Conant R, Collins JT (2016). Peterson Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, Fourth Edition. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. xiv + 494 pp., 47 plates, 207 figures. ISBN978-0-544-12997-9. (Sternotherus carinatus, pp. 227–228 + Plate 19 + Figures 86, 104).
Stejneger L, Barbour T (1917). A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. 125 pp. (Kinosternon carinatum, p. 111).
Tinkle DW, Webb RG (1955). "A new species of Sternotherus with a discussion of the Sternotherus carinatus complex (Chelonia, Kinosternidae)". Tulane Studies in Zoology3 (3): 53–67.
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