MAY 27, 2014 TURTLE NEWS

The Amazing Common Musk Turtle

Sternoustherous odoratus is a species of small turtles. It's known as the
Common Musk Turtle or Stinkpot due to its ability to release a foul musky
odor for a scent glands on the edge of its smell, possibly to deter predators.
Common musk turtles are in danger, due fishing nets, fish traps, water
pollution and predator such as raccoons lower the population of the common
musk turtle.
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HIRELIS RODRIGUEZ
TORTOISE BACK RIDE
A TORTOISE AND IT'S
BABY TORTOISE LIFE
LINE UP TO SEE THE
AMAZING
WONDERFUL TURTLES
HAPPIEST TURTLE
EVER
THIS SMILE WILL
MAKE EMOTIONAL
Common musk
turtles mating
occurs
underwater.
TURTLE NEWS
MAY 27, 2014 TURTLE NEWS
What does a Common Musk
Turtle look like?
The common musk turtle is a relatively small turtle with an
average length of 8 to 14 cm(about 3 to 5 inches). Adult common
musk turtles carapace, or shell, length is 3.25 to 5.37 inches (8.3 to
13.6cm). Common musk turtles are dark brown to black in color
and have two light strips on their head. As well as fleshy barbells
on their chin and throat. Males have a thick tail with wider areas
of skin showing between scutes of the plastron. And the females
have thin tails and not much skin showing. The male differs from
the female in that he has a larger head, a long and stout tail with a
spine, and areas of tilted scales on the insides of the rear legs.
Males also have broad areas of skin showing between plastral
scutes, whereas females have very small areas of skin in these
spaces.

How do common musk turtle
behave?
Common Musk Turtles are a mostly aquatic, so they usually
are not found far away from water. They are most often seen
walking or swimming along the bottom of shallow water. Common
Musk Turtles are active during day and night. These turtles can be
very aggressive when first capture. So they will bite and release a
smelly musk, which gives the species its name.

Habitat of the Common Musk
Turtle.
Musk turtles love shallow water. So their habitats include any
permanent body of water, like shallow streams, ponds, rivers, and
clear water lakes. While in the water, musk turtles stays mainly in
shallow areas and rarely found elsewhere. Sometimes it can be
found basking on nearby fallen tree trunks or in the branches of
trees overhanging the water.
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Scientific
Classification

Kingdom- Animalia
Phylum- Chordata
Subphylum- Vertabrata
Class- reptilia
Order- Test udiness
Family- kinosternidae
Genus- sternoustherous
Species- S. Odoratus
MAY 27, 2014 TURTLE NEWS



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