Kinosternon arizonense
—
Arizona Mud Turtle
This goofy turtle was at the edge of the road at dusk. It had pulled in its limbs and head, no doubt mocking our attempts to get a decent photo. However, we knew that others in our group would want to photos of it also, so we put it into a bucket that we were carrying for this purpose, screwed the lid on, and continued our drive. We stayed out later than everyone else, and by the time we were heading back past the spot where we had found the turtle, everyone else had already gone back to our hotel in Hermosillo. So we released the turtle, and were very pleasantly surprised to discover that it was now in a mood to strike some poses for us. Vogue!
Online references:
- Kinosternon arizonense account on The Reptile Database
- Kinosternon arizonense account on Tucson Herpetological Society site
Printed references:
- Brennan, T. C. and Holycross, A. T. 2006. A Field Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles in Arizona
- Crother, B. I. (ed.) 2017. Scientific and Standard English Names of Amphibians and Reptiles of North America North of Mexico, with Comments Regarding Confidence in Our Understanding, Eighth Edition
- Ernst, C. H., Barbour, R. W. 1989. Turtles of the World
- Ernst, C. H., and Lovich, J. E. 2009. Turtles of the United States and Canada, Second Edition
- Rorabaugh, J.C., Lemos-Espinal, J.A. 2016. A Field Guide to the Amphibians and Reptiles of Sonora, Mexico