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This site was created by students in the herpetology class at Towson University.  Site last updated: 05/21/07.

Acknowledgements: Herb Harris - Range Maps;  Mark Tegges - Photography; Dan Lapascha & Gigi Forester - TU Herpetology Logo

Eastern Musk Turtle

Description

    The stinkpot turtle gets its name from the foul smelling secretions it releases from musk glands under the border of the carapace.  In addition to the role of musk glands in mating, the stinkpot is notorious for releasing the odorous glandular secretions when disturbed by humans and other predators.  People who choose to handle stinkpots should be aware that this odor will linger on their hands for quite some time, and due to their feisty nature, these turtles are known to bite.  The stinkpot is a small turtle with a smooth, dome-shaped carapace ranging from 5.1 – 13.7cm in length.  The carapace may be either smooth or with 3 dorsal keels and is olive to dark brown.  Algae commonly colonize the stinkpot’s carapace which may give it a green hue.  The plastron of the stinkpot is reduced in size, possesses an inconspicuous single-hinge, has 11 scutes (none of which are pie shaped) and is yellowish-brown in color.  The head and arms are brown with two yellow light stripes that run from the snout backwards above and below the eye, although these tend to fade with age.  There are barbels on the throat and chin.  Males and females may be distinguished by looking at the tip of the tail:  in the male the tail ends in a blunt horny nail while the tail may end in a sharp horny tip in females.  Males also have patches of tilted scales on the hind legs and their plastron is very reduced showing more flesh than the female’s.  Hatchlings have a dark colored, rough, keeled carapace with a light spot on the edge of each marginal scute.  The yellow facial stripes are visible in hatchlings as well.

 Habitat

    Stinkpots are commonly found in freshwater habitats with slow moving water and soft, muddy bottoms such as bogs, ponds and marshes.  Due to their largely aquatic lifestyle, they are usually found in shallow water and rarely on land except when nesting or basking.  Their amazing ability to remain underwater for extended periods of time is accomplished by a reducing their oxygen consumption by seven-eighths when underwater (Root 1949).     

Breeding

    Courtship usually takes place between February and June, although the Stinkpot has also been known to mate in the fall.  If fall mating occurs, the female is able to store the sperm internally until ovipositing the following spring.  Mating occurs underwater and shallow nests are formed from mid-spring to mid-summer in rotting vegetative debris, under logs, loose soil or leaf litter.  Females have been known to share nests and each will lay 1-9 small (1 1/8”) brittle, white, elliptical eggs.  Eggs hatch from August to November.          

Distribution in Maryland

Range map adapted from Harris, 1975. 

Links

http://herpnet.net/Iowa-Herpetology/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=79&Itemid=40

http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Sternotherus_odoratus.html

http://community.middlebury.edu/~herpatlas/spp_pages/sppS-odoratus.php