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Sonora Mud Turtle (Kinosternon sonoriense )

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”2175″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_rounded”][vc_column_text]Sonora Mud Turtle, Rio Cocospera, Rancho El Aribabi, Sonora. Photo by Jim Rorabaugh[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”2227″ img_size=”medium” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”img_link_large”][vc_column_text]Sonoyta Mud Turtle, Rio Sonoyta, Sonora. Photo by Jim Rorabaugh[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”2228″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_rounded” onclick=”img_link_large”][vc_column_text]Sonora Mud Turtle, plastron, Sierra La Purica, Sonora, MX. Photo by Jim Rorabaugh[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”2230″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_rounded” onclick=”img_link_large”][vc_column_text]The 10th marginal scute is elevated above the 9th and 8th marginals. Photo by Jim Rorabaugh[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”2231″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_rounded” onclick=”img_link_large”][vc_column_text]Sonora Mud Turtle, Rio Cocospera, Rancho El Aribabi, Sonora. Photo by Jim Rorabaugh[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”2233″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_rounded” onclick=”img_link_large”][vc_column_text]Sonoran Mud Turtle (hatchling), Sierra La Purica, Sonora. Photo by Jim Rorabaugh.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”2232″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_rounded” onclick=”img_link_large”][vc_column_text]Sonora Mud Turtle, adult male, Galiuro Mtns. Photo by Roger Repp[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/6″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]

Description

The Sonora Mud Turtle is a moderate-sized (< 217 mm carapace length) aquatic turtle characterized by an olive-brown to dark brown carapace with three distinct longitudinal keels and a plastron that is hinged front and back and is yellow to streaked brown with dark seems.  The digits on the feet are all webbed, and adult males have patches of roughened scales or claspers on the inner surfaces of the thighs and shanks. The eighth and ninth marginal scutes are about the same height, but the tenth marginal scute is elevated.  The head and neck are olive-gray with distinct stripes and reticulations; it is the only mud turtle in Arizona with such markings.

The Sonora Mud Turtle is an inhabitant of rivers, streams, ciénegas, cattle tanks, and other impoundments that, in the 100-Mile, occur in Sonoran and Chihuahuan desertscrub, semi-desert and Plains grassland, oak woodland, and pine-oak woodland.  It is widespread in the 100-Mile Circle, occurring most anywhere permanent water is found, but is absent from arid examples of Sonoran desertscrub to the west and north of Tucson, and from the higher portions of mountain ranges within the Circle. This species is typically associated with permanent waters, but during drought or the arid foresummer, it may be restricted to perennial pools in otherwise dry stream reaches, and it can aestivate out of water for several months.  Aestivation sites are amidst vegetation or organic debris, in soil, or inside rock crevices.  On rare occasions, usually during the summer rainy season, Sonora Mud Turtles, particularly males, may be found active in the uplands, presumably moving between aquatic sites.

At warmer, desert sites, Sonora Mud Turtles are active year-round, although activity is reduced December-February.  At higher elevations, turtles are inactive during the winter months and as noted above, they may aestivate in terrestrial retreats during drought.  This species is primarily diurnal in the cooler months, with increasing crepuscular and nocturnal activity as temperatures increase. Clutches of 1-11 eggs are laid from May to September; usually one or two clutches (maximum of four) are produced each year.  Hatchlings, which measure 22-26 mm carapace length, begin to emerge in August with emergence continuing into December.  Some hatchlings may overwinter in the nest.  The diet of the Sonora Mud Turtle includes aquatic insects and snails, crayfish, other invertebrates, as well as fish, frogs, tadpoles, birds, lizards, and snakes.  Some plants are consumed as well.

The Sonora Mud Turtle is listed as near threatened on the IUCN’s Red List.  Kinosternon sonoriense longifemorale, which occurs at Quitobaquito, elsewhere in the Río Sonoyta drainage (just outside the 100-Mile Circle), and at Quitovac, Sonora is listed as endangered by both the U.S. and Mexican governments.  The species is vulnerable to predation by non-native species such as American Bullfrogs, Largemouth Bass, and crayfishes, and in many areas its aquatic habitats have disappeared due to water diversions and groundwater pumping.

Suggested Reading:

Brennan, T.C., and A.T. Holycross. 2006. Amphibians and Reptiles in Arizona. Arizona Game and Fish Department, Phoenix, AZ.

Ernst, C.H., and J.E. Lovich. 2009. Turtles of the United States and Canada (second edition). Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.

Hall, D.H., and R.J. Steidl. 2007. Movements, activity, and spacing of Sonora Mud Turtles (Kinosternon sonoriense) in interrupted mountain streams. Copeia 2007(2):403-412.

Hulse, A.C. 1982. Reproduction and population structure in the turtle Kinosternon sonoriense. The Southwestern Naturalist 27(4):447-456.

Lovich, J.E., C. Drost, A.J. Monatesti, D. Casper, D. Wood, and M. Girard. 2010. New reptilian prey items for the Sonora mud turtle (Kinosternon sonoriense) with a brief review of saurophagy and ophiophagy in North American turtles. Southwestern Naturalist 55:135-138.

Rosen, P.C. 1987. Female reproductive variation among populations of Sonora Mud Turtles (Kinosternon sonoriense). Master’s thesis, Arizona State University, Tempe.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2017. Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Endangered Species Status for Sonoyta Mud Turtle; Final Rule. Federal Register, 20 September 2017.

van Loben Sels, R.C., J.D. Congdon, and J.T. Austin. 1997. Life History and ecology of the Sonora Mud Turtle (Kinosternon sonoriense) in southeastern Arizona: A preliminary report. Chelonian Conservation and Biology 2:338-344.

Author: Jim Rorabaugh

For additional information on this species, please see the following volume and page in the Sonoran Herpetologist: 2007 Dec:129.

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