Striped mud turtle

---

title: "Striped mud turtle" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["kinosternon", "endemic-reptiles-of-the-united-states", "reptiles-described-in-1891", "taxa-named-by-samuel-garman"] description: "Species of turtle" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Striped_mud_turtle" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Species of turtle ::

| image = Kinosternon baurii 349332056 (cropped).jpg | image_caption = Climbing a tree, Florida | status = NT | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = | genus = Kinosternon | species = baurii | authority = (Garman, 1891) | synonyms = {{collapsible list|bullets = true|title=List |Cinosternum baurii Garman, 1891 |Kinosternon baurii — Lönnberg, 1894 |Kinosternon bauri palmarum Stejneger, 1925 |Kinosternon bauri bauri — Mertens, L. Müller & Rust, 1934 |Kinosternon baurii baurii — Stejneger & Barbour, 1939 |Kinosternon baurii palmarum — Stejneger & Barbour, 1939 | synonyms_ref =

The striped mud turtle (Kinosternon baurii) is a species of turtle in the family Kinosternidae. The species is native to the southeastern United States.

Etymology

The specific name, baurii, is in honor of herpetologist Georg Baur.

Geographic range

The striped mud turtle is found in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland, and Virginia.

Description

K. baurii has three light-colored stripes along the length of the smooth carapace. It can grow to a straight carapace length of 8–12 cm (3–4¾ inches). File:Kinosternon baurii 350774539.jpg|Carapace, Florida File:Kinosternon baurii 352995030 (cropped).jpg|Carapace, Florida File:Kinosternon baurii 342233173 (cropped).jpg|Carapace, Florida File:Kinosternon baurii 387649212 (cropped).jpg|Plastron, North Carolina File:Kinosternon baurii 348291078 (cropped).jpg|Plastron, Florida

Habitat and behavior

K. baurii is a common species found in freshwater habitats. It wanders about on land more than any other of the mud turtles and can sometimes be observed foraging for food in cow dung.

Diet

The striped mud turtle is omnivorous. It eats insects, snails, fish, carrion, algae, and plants. The striped mud turtle also eats dried up krill.[[File:Striped mud turtle (Kinosternon baurii) (cropped).jpg|thumb|In captivity]]

Captivity

As a pet K. baurii is easy to care for, readily eating commercial turtle foods, feeder fish, and worms. Kept communally, they may exhibit aggressive behavior towards each other, most likely males are more inclined to fight than females.

Reproduction

Adult females of K. baurii nest from September to June. The eggs, which are slightly over 2.5 cm (1 in) long, hatch 13 to 19 weeks later. The hatchlings are about 2.5 cm (1 inch) in straight carapace length and, unlike the adult turtles, have keeled carapaces. File:Kinosternon baurii 329750206.jpg|Hatchling carapace, Florida File:Kinosternon baurii 329750171.jpg File:Kinosternon baurii 353856949.jpg|Hatchling plastron, Florida File:Kinosternon baurii 353856957.jpg

References

;Bibliography

• CITEREFRhodin2010

References

1. (2025). "''Kinosternon baurii''".
2. {{Harnvb. Rhodin. 2010
3. Fritz, Uwe. (2007). "Checklist of Chelonians of the World". Vertebrate Zoology.
4. {{EMBL species
5. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. {{ISBN. 978-1-4214-0135-5. (''Kinosternon baurii'', p. 19).

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::