Comparative Ecology of the Kinosternid Turtles of Oklahoma

Abstract

3. A comparison of the percentage of captures from d iffe re n t types of bottom of aquatic habitats ............ 4. A comparison of the percentage of captures from water of d ifferen t turbid ity .

Sternotherus carinatus (Gray 1856) – Razorback Musk Turtle, Razor-Backed Musk Turtle

“…5 young animals and gradually slows in rate as the turtle ages and grows larger (Tinkle 1958;Mahmoud 1969;Iverson 2002). Maturity is reached at 80−120 mm CL at 4−8 yrs of age (Tinkle 1958;Mahmoud 1967;Iverson 2002).…”

“…data), and adjusted based on author's data. the substrate is gravel, sand, or cobble, but also occurs in oxbow lakes and floodplain swamps (Tinkle 1958;Mahmoud 1969;Dundee and Rossman 1989;Trauth et al 2004). The Escatawpa population in Alabama occurs in a blackwater stream (Godwin 2004).…”

“…Individuals show a proclivity for basking high above the water on narrow, steeply-angled deadwood substrates and may avoid substrates occupied by other turtles (Lindeman 1996). In the water, the animal is a bottom walker that uses crevices under submerged deadwood or rocks for hiding (Mahmoud 1969;Jackson 1988).…”

Declining Populations of Yellow Mud Turtles(Kinosternon flavescens)in Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri

“…However, our observations suggest that abandoned gravel and sand pits, while supporting some aquatic turtles, did not benefit yellow mud turtles at this extreme of their range. Yellow mud turtles are adapted to drying of their habitat (Mahmoud 1969;Christiansen and Bickham 1989;Iverson, in Farrar 2001) and at Big Sand Mound, currently only survive on the relatively undisturbed preserve at BSM. The deepened pools allow rehydration when the turtles emerge from terrestrial overwintering and are shallow enough to allow occasional winterkill of aquatic wintering turtles and predatory fish species (Iverson, in Farrar 2001).…”

Molecular Phylogeny and Biogeography of Kinosternon flavescens Based on Complete Mitochondrial Control Region Sequences

“…The low nt diversity recovered among Central Plains populations can be explained by the species' natural history. K. flavescens inhabits xeric environments with unstable conditions, is more terrestrial (Iverson, 1991a), often migrating between bodies of water (Cope, 1892), and tends to have a large activity range (Mahmoud, 1969) compared to other kinosternid species, such as S. odoratus, which is more restricted to aquatic environments. In addition, genetic differentiation among populations will be slowed considerably by migration, and even infrequent migration is enough to prevent any appreciable genetic differentiation unless strong differential selection exists (Eq.…”