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Tabasco Mud Turtle
Kinosternon acutum
The Tabasco mud turtle (Kinosternon acutum), commonly known as pochitoque in Tabasco, Mexico, is a small turtle which belongs to the family Kinosternidae. It can be found in central Veracruz, Tabasco, northern Guatemala and Belize. This turtle lives in small streams, marshes and ponds. Its feeding habits are mainly carnivorous and it is a nocturnal animal. Although this turtle doesn't have a wide range it can be common at some sites. In Tabasco this turtle is an important part of its popular culture as well as being an ingredient in Tabasco's gastronomy in spite of its special protected status.
From the article Tabasco mud turtle on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
In human culture
In this south Mexican state this turtle has a significant importance. Since ancient time Chontales have used it as an ingredient in their traditional kitchen so next to other turtle species (jicotea and mojina), pochitoque has a huge demand among people of these Chontal communities as well as in restaurants of typical food. Pochitoque is roasted and then is eaten as a green soup with rice, this is called "pochitoque en verde". The pochitoque is a main character in some Chontal legends. Among Chontal people, it is said that if a crocodile eats a pochitoque, this turtle eats the crocodile from the inside and survives by killing the crocodile. Due to its protagonism in these stories, some poets and singers from Tabasco use pochitoque as an inspiration for their poems and songs and there is a dance of pochitoque as well. The song "Pochitoque Jahuactero" sang by a popular singer from Tabasco, talks about a pochitoque that needs to be careful when going out of his swamp.
Wikipedia: “Pochitoque in Tabasco's culture”
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Kinosternon acutum in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 39758.