Sternotherus depressus TINKLE & WEBB, 1955

Find more photos by Google images search:

Higher Taxa	Kinosternidae (Kinosterninae), Kinosternoidea, Testudines (turtles)
Subspecies
Common Names	E: Flattened Musk Turtle
Synonym	Sternotherus depressus TINKLE & WEBB 1955 Sternotherus minor depressus — WERMUTH & MERTENS 1961 Sternotherus minor depressus — ERNST & BARBOUR 1972 Kinosternon depressum — ERNST & BARBOUR 1989: 74 Sternotherus depressus — CONANT & COLLINS 1991: 46 Sternotherus depressus — CROTHER 2000 Kinosternon depressum — BONIN et al 2006 Sternotherus depressus — SCOTT et al. 2017 Sternotherus depressus — TTWG 2021
Distribution	USA (N Alabama) Type locality: "Mulberry Fork of the Black Warrior River, 9 miles east of Jasper, Walker County, Alabama, near the bridge crossing of U.S. Highway 78".
Reproduction	oviparous.
Types	Holotype: LSUM 109567 (was: TU 16171 at Tulane University)
Diagnosis	Diagnosis: Morphologically, S. depressus can be diagnosed from all other species of Sternotherus by this combination of characteristics: a round low carapace with flared margins that may possess a single low keel in young animals (but lateral keels are lacking), reticulate pattern of lines on the head and neck, and a single pair of neck barbels. There is evidence of introgression between S. depressus and S. peltifer in this, and other work (e.g. Scott and Rissler 2015). and hybrids between these two species may be found in the North River drainage of the Black Warrior River (Scott et al. 2017).
Comment	Habitat: freshwater (swamps, quiet rivers) Hybridization: Sternotherus depressus and S. minor hybridize (Scott et al. 2017). In fact, S. depressus is nested within S. minor Distribution: see map in Scott et al. 2017: Fig. 2. Hybridization: Specimens intermediate between K. minor and K. depressus exist, but are probably interspecific hybrids rather than intergrades. Morphological studies and studies of the electrophoretic properties of proteins of these two turtles have shown them to be closely related but distinct species (Iverson, 1977b; Seidel and Lucchino, 1981; Seidel, Reynolds, and Lucchino, 1981, Ernst & Barbour 1989).
Etymology	Named after Latin depressus = pressed down or low, for the dorsoventrally flattened carapace.
References	Bonin, F., Devaux, B. & Dupré, A. 2006. Turtles of the World. English translation by P.C.H. Pritchard. Johns Hopkins University Press, 416 pp. Bour, R. 2008. Global diversity of turtles (Chelonii; Reptilia) in freshwater. Hydrobiologia 595:593–598 - get paper here Conant,R. & Collins,J.T. 1991. A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern/Central North America, 3rd ed. Houghton Mifflin (Boston/New York), xx + 450 p. Crother, B. I. (ed.) 2012. Standard Common and Current Scientific Names for North American Amphibians, Turtles, Reptiles, and Crocodilians, Seventh Edition. Herpetological Circular 39: 1-92 Dodd, C.K., Jr. 1988. Patterns of Distribution and Seasonal Use of the Turtle Sternotherus depressus by the Leech Placobdella parasitica Journal of Herpetology 22 (1): 74-81. - get paper here Dodd, C.K., Jr. 1989. Secondary Sex Ratio Variation among Populations of the Flattened Musk Turtle, Sternotherus depressus Copeia 1989 (4): 1041-1045. - get paper here Ernst, Carl H.; Lovich, Jeffrey E. 2009. Turtles of the United States and Canada, 2nd edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, 827 pp. - get paper here Ernst,C.H. and Barbour,R.W. 1989. Turtles of the World. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C. - London Fonnesbeck, C.J. & C.K. Dodd, Jr. 2003. Estimation of Flattened Musk Turtle (Sternotherus depressus) Survival, Recapture, and Recovery Rate during and after a Disease Outbreak Journal of Herpetology 37 (3): 602-607. - get paper here Iverson, John B. 1977. Sternotherus depressus. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (194): 1-2 - get paper here Iverson, John B. 1998. Molecules, morphology, and mud turtle phylogenetics (Family Kinosternidae). Chelonian Conserv. Biol. 3 (1): 113-117 Jenkins, A. Joseph, James C. Godwin, Daniel A. Warner & David A. Steen. 2022. Movement Ecology of Flattened Musk Turtles (Sternotherus depressus). Journal of Herpetology 56 (1): 1–7. - get paper here Marion, K.R., W.A. Cox & C.H. Ernst 1991. Prey of the Flattened Musk Turtle, Sternotherus depressus Journal of Herpetology 25 (3): 385-387. - get paper here Schilde, M. 2003. Family Kinosternidae. Reptilia (GB) (26): 16-21 - get paper here Scott, P. A., Glenn, T. C., & Rissler, L. J. 2017. Resolving taxonomic turbulence and uncovering cryptic diversity in the musk turtles (Sternotherus) using robust demographic modeling. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution - get paper here Seidel, M.E., and R.V. Lucchino. 1981. Allozymic and morphological variation among the musk turtles Sternotherus carinatus, S. depressus and S. minor (Kinosternidae). Copeia 1981 (1):119-128. - get paper here Tinkle, D.W., and R.G. Webb 1955. A new species of Sternotherus with a discussion of the Sternotherus carinatus complex (Chelonia, Kinosternidae). Tulane Stud. Zool. 3 (3): 53 - get paper here TTWG; Rhodin, A.G.J., Iverson, J.B., Bour, R., Fritz, U., Georges, A., Shaffer, H.B., and van Dijk, P.P. 2021. Turtles of the World: Annotated Checklist and Atlas of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution, and Conservation Status (9th Ed.). In: Rhodin, A.G.J., Iverson, J.B., van Dijk, P.P., Stanford, C.B., Goode, E.V., Buhlmann, K.A., and Mittermeier, R.A. (Eds.). Chelonian Research Monographs 8:1–472. doi:10.3854/crm.8.checklist.atlas.v9.2021. - get paper here Wermuth, H., and R. Mertens. 1961. Schildkröten, Krokodile, Brückenechsen. Gustav Fischer Verlag, Jena. xxvi + 422 pp. Zug G R 1986. Sternotherus Gray. Musk turtles. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles ( 397: 1-3 - get paper here
External links	IUCN Red List National Center for Biotechnology Information http://www.pfmt.org/wildlife/endangered/flattened_musk.htm Google images

Is it interesting? Share with others:

As link to this species use URL address:

https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Sternotherus&species=depressus

without field 'search_param'. Field 'search_param' is used for browsing search result.

Please submit feedback about this entry to the curator