Eastern Mud Turtle

The eastern mud turtle is a small and often hard to identify species. It measures 3–4 in (7.6–10.2 cm) in carapace length. The carapace is keelless, lacks any pattern, and varies in color from yellowish to black. The plastron is large and double hinged, and can be yellowish to brown, and may sometimes have a dark pattern. The chin and throat are a yellowish grey, streaked and mottled with brown, while the limbs and tail are grayish. The eye, or iris, of the eastern mud turtle is yellow with dark clouding, and its feet are webbed.

Mud turtles (genus Kinosternon) are fresh water turtles that are found in the Southeastern and Northeastern United States. They live in rivers, lakes, ponds, ditches and swamps. Mud turtles prefer ponds that have a lot of vegetation. These animals can generally be found in spring-fed streams, and they prefer clean, oxygenated water. The Eastern mud turtle rarely basks, but in the instance they do, they will bask on rocks or debris floating on the surface of the water. In the wild, they also prefer sandy and muddy areas, as they will hibernate by burrowing into the mud. The Eastern Mud Turtle prefers hibernacula sites about 70 meters from wetlands and that have a large amount of leaf and pine litter and not too much tree cover. They will burrow at the wetland edges at a minimum depth of 1.3 cm below the soil surface to a maximum depth of 3 cm. The leaf litter helps to keep the soil moisture and the temperature consistent, while a more open canopy exposes turtles to higher temperatures before emergence. Mud turtles can tolerate brackish water so they may be found near salt marshes and on coastal islands. They can also persist in degraded or polluted habitats despite contamination.

The eastern mud turtle is omnivorous and feeds on insects, crustaceans, mollusks, amphibians, carrion, and aquatic vegetation. Smaller eastern mud turtles prey on small aquatic insects, algae, and carrion, whereas larger ones can feed on any type of food that they can fit in their mouth.

The specific name, subrubrum, meaning "under red", refers to the red-orange plastron of hatchlings.