Animal Diversity Web

Ge­o­graphic Range

Com­mon musk tur­tles (Ster­notherus odor­a­tus), also called stinkpots, are found through­out the east­ern and cen­tral United States, with the ex­cep­tion of higher el­e­va­tions areas such as the Blue Ridge Moun­tains. Their ge­o­graphic range ex­tends as far north as parts of south Maine, Michi­gan, and Wis­con­sin, as well as parts of south On­tario, Canada. Their range in­cludes the East Coast, as far south as south Florida. Their range con­tin­ues along the Gulf Coast and the west­ern bounds of their range in­clude east Texas, east Ok­la­homa, south­east Kansas, south-cen­tral Arkansas, and Illi­nois. (Buhlmann, et al., 2008; Ernst, 1986; Mitchell, 1994)

• Biogeographic Regions
• nearctic
  • native

Habi­tat

Stinkpots sel­dom stray far from water, ex­cept for fe­males when they are lay­ing eggs. Stinkpots are most often found in per­ma­nent wet­lands such as ponds, lakes, or hu­man-made im­pound­ments where aquatic plants can pro­vide suf­fi­cient food. They are also found fre­quently in streams, rivers, and swamps. They typ­i­cally rest in shaded areas that are low enough for their cara­paces to touch the ground. Most of their time is spent on the bot­tom of bod­ies of water, search­ing for mates or for prey in the sed­i­ment, giv­ing them the nick­name "bot­tom walker".

Stinkpots are known to re­turn to the sites where they were born when they are dis­placed. Stinkpots tend to be more ac­tive in new areas com­pared to their natal areas. Males move more than fe­males, on av­er­age, likely in an at­tempt to mate with mul­ti­ple fe­males. Stinkpots have been ob­served bask­ing in trees up to 2 m above water. They are found more fre­quently in shal­low water, and are rarely dis­cov­ered at depths greater than 2 m.

The high­est el­e­va­tion for a known pop­u­la­tion of stinkpots is 1,170 m in Lake Ravenel of Macon County, NC. (An­dres and Cham­bers, 2006; "As­sess­ment and Sta­tus Re­port on the Stinkpot", 2002; Buhlmann, et al., 2008; Heiss, et al., 2010; Kle­mens, 2000; Lin­de­man, 2013; Mitchell, 1994; Palmer and Braswell, 1995; Rowe, et al., 2009; Wil­son, 1995)

• Habitat Regions
• terrestrial
• freshwater

• Aquatic Biomes
• lakes and ponds
• rivers and streams

• Wetlands
• swamp

• Range elevation

  1,170 (high) m

  ft

• Range depth

  2 (high) m

  6.56 (high) ft

Phys­i­cal De­scrip­tion

Stinkpots have brown cara­paces with small, yel­low plas­trons. Their cara­paces are elon­gated, nar­row, and rounded with ir­reg­u­lar pat­terns of black streaks or spots. Their skin is typ­i­cally grey­ish-black, with mul­ti­ple pat­terns of yel­low spots and streaks on their legs and lower necks. Stinkpots have a pair of dark or pale yel­low stripes on each side of their heads: one above and one below each eye. These fa­cial stripes dis­tin­guish stinkpots from other species in the genus (Ster­notherus). They have white or yel­low skin, which is vis­i­ble be­tween the seams of their plas­trons. Their plas­trons have a sin­gle, non­func­tional hinge. Stinkpots also have elon­gated, pointed snouts and have bar­bels on their chins and necks. For some in­di­vid­u­als, these bar­bels are re­duced in size. It is com­mon for algae to grow on parts or all of their shells.

Males have larger tails and heads com­pared to fe­males. Males also have dif­fer­ently shaped tails, which go from wide at the base to very thin at the end. The av­er­age length for adults is be­tween 100 to 127 mm. Av­er­age adult body mass is 100 g.

Stinkpot hatch­lings are the small­est tur­tles in North Amer­ica, with an av­er­age cara­pace length of 25 mm and a weight range of 1.6 to 3.2 g. Hatch­lings re­sem­ble adults with the ex­cep­tion of their cara­paces, which have no­tice­ably higher mid­line keels com­pared to adults. Adults also have no­tice­able mid­line keels, but they are much smaller than the keels of hatch­lings. The yel­low head stripes of ju­ve­niles are more dis­tinct com­pared to adults.

Stinkpots are often mis­taken for striped mud tur­tles (Ki­nos­ter­non bau­rii) and east­ern mud tur­tles (Ki­nos­ter­non sub­rubrum), es­pe­cially since all three species have over­lap­ping ranges. How­ever, stinkpots are dis­tin­guish­able by the pres­ence of skin vis­i­ble be­tween the scutes of their plas­trons. The other two species also have two hinges on their plas­trons and their cara­paces are never keeled (Buhlmann, et al., 2008; Jack­son, 2011; Mitchell, 1994; Reynolds and Sei­del, 1983)

• Other Physical Features
• ectothermic
• bilateral symmetry

• Sexual Dimorphism
• male larger
• sexes shaped differently

• Average mass

  100 g

  3.52 oz

• Range length

  100 to 127 mm

  3.94 to 5.00 in

• Average length

  111 mm

  4.37 in

De­vel­op­ment

Stinkpot eggs are thick, but brit­tle-shelled. On av­er­age, eggs are 1.9 cm wide by 2.5 cm long. As fe­male size and clutch size in­crease, egg width in­creases and egg length de­creases. Yolk de­vel­op­ment oc­curs be­tween Au­gust and De­cem­ber, and takes place in the ovar­ian fol­li­cles of fe­males. Egg yolk ranges in di­am­e­ter from 14.7 to 16.8 mm. Stinkpots ex­hibit in­de­ter­mi­nate growth, mean­ing they do not cease grow­ing through­out their life­time. How­ever, growth rates are fastest for hatch­lings and ju­ve­niles, and slower after stinkpots reach adult­hood.

Fe­male stinkpots lay 1 to 4 clutches of eggs per sea­son, with a total of 1 to 6 eggs per clutch. Fe­males ex­ca­vate bur­rows where they lay their eggs, which typ­i­cally in­cu­bate for 65 to 86 days. Stinkpots ex­hibit tem­per­a­ture-de­pen­dent sex de­ter­mi­na­tion. At tem­per­a­tures greater than 28 °C, nearly all eggs de­velop into fe­males, whereas tem­per­a­tures below 25 °C pro­duce nearly all males. Most hatch­lings leave their nests in late sum­mer or fall, but oth­ers stay in their nests through­out win­ter, only leav­ing to seek bod­ies of water in the spring. (Clark, et al., 2001; Ernst and Lovich, 2009; McPher­son and Mar­ion, 1983)

• Development - Life Cycle
• temperature sex determination
• indeterminate growth

Re­pro­duc­tion

Stinkpots are polyg­y­nan­drous, and it is pos­si­ble for clutches of eggs to have mul­ti­ple pa­ter­ni­ties. Dur­ing breed­ing sea­son, males move around fre­quently and at­tempt to mate with mul­ti­ple fe­males. Fe­males can store sperm from fall through win­ter and have also been ob­served mat­ing with mul­ti­ple males dur­ing same breed­ing sea­son. ("As­sess­ment and Sta­tus Re­port on the Stinkpot", 2002)

• Mating System
• polygynandrous (promiscuous)

Stinkpots mate in the water. In the south­east United States, stinkpots breed through­out the year, al­though breed­ing ac­tiv­ity peaks in spring and fall. Fe­males lay 1 to 4 clutches per year, with 1 to 6 eggs per clutch. The max­i­mum recorded num­ber of eggs laid in a sin­gle breed­ing sea­son was 9. Clutch size and egg size are pos­i­tively cor­re­lated.

Stinkpot mat­ing be­hav­ior can be grouped into three phases. The first phase in­volves tac­tile com­mu­ni­ca­tion, with males chas­ing fe­males, nudg­ing their shells, bit­ing their heads, and at­tempt­ing to mount them. If a fe­male is re­cep­tive to mat­ing, the sec­ond phase be­gins. The sec­ond phase in­volves mount­ing and pen­e­tra­tion, with males using all four feet to grasp their mate's cara­pace. Then, males use the scale patches on their rear legs to clasp their mate's tail, mov­ing it to the side to ex­pose the cloaca, and in­sert their penis. The third phase in­volves bit­ing and rub­bing, with males bit­ing and rub­bing their mate's head and neck dur­ing in­tro­mis­sion. At the same time, fe­males bite their mate's head and feet. Male ejac­u­la­tion in­volves full-body con­trac­tions and stiff­en­ing. The mat­ing be­hav­ior of stinkpots has been called forced in­sem­i­na­tion.

Stinkpots often make their nests in shady areas less than 46 m away from a body of water. They ex­ca­vate shal­low nests, often under logs, under leaves, or on grassy ground. Mul­ti­ple fe­males usu­ally nest in the same area.

Stinkpots are in­de­pen­dent im­me­di­ately after hatch­ing. Males reach sex­ual ma­tu­rity after 5 to 6 years with an av­er­age cara­pace length of 63.6 mm. Fe­males reach sex­ual ma­tu­rity after 8 to 9 years with an av­er­age cara­pace length of 80.7 mm. ("As­sess­ment and Sta­tus Re­port on the Stinkpot", 2002; Buhlmann, et al., 2008; Ford and Moll, 2004; McPher­son and Mar­ion, 1981; Mitchell, 1994)

• Key Reproductive Features
• iteroparous
• seasonal breeding
• gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
• sexual
• fertilization
• oviparous

• Breeding interval

  1 to 4 times a year

• Breeding season

  Throughout the year, although mostly in spring and fall

• Range number of offspring

  1 to 9

• Average number of offspring

  4

• Average time to independence

  0 minutes

• Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)

  8 to 9 years

• Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)

  8 to 9 years years

• Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)

  5 to 6 years

• Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)

  5 to 6 years years

Fe­males ex­hibit no fur­ther parental in­vest­ment be­yond the acts of nest dig­ging and egg de­po­si­tion. Males ex­hibit no fur­ther parental in­vest­ment be­yond the act of mat­ing. Hatch­lings are im­me­di­ately in­de­pen­dent upon hatch­ing. ("As­sess­ment and Sta­tus Re­port on the Stinkpot", 2002)

• Parental Investment
• no parental involvement

Lifes­pan/Longevity

On av­er­age, stinkpots live to be 15 to 19 years old. Mor­tal­ity rates are high for hatch­lings and ju­ve­niles, but low for adults. The longest recorded lifes­pan of a wild in­di­vid­ual is 28 years. The longest recorded lifes­pan of a cap­tive in­di­vid­ual is 54.8 years. ("As­sess­ment and Sta­tus Re­port on the Stinkpot", 2002; Mitchell, 1994)

• Range lifespan
  Status: wild

  28 (high) years

• Range lifespan
  Status: captivity

  54.8 (high) years

• Typical lifespan
  Status: wild

  15 to 19 years

• Average lifespan
  Status: wild

  15-19 years

• Average lifespan
  Status: captivity

  54.8 years

  Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research

Be­hav­ior

Stinkpots are mostly aquatic, but will go on land dur­ing rain­storms. They often bask on branches or fork­ing limbs over­hang­ing water. They drop into the water from these over­hangs, and there are re­ports of them in­ad­ver­tently drop­ping into boats pass­ing under such branches. It is un­com­mon for stinkpots to move be­tween dis­junct bod­ies of water.

Stinkpots bru­mate when water tem­per­a­tures drop below 10°C. They typ­i­cally enter bru­ma­tion after bury­ing them­selves around 30 cm deep in mud.

Stinkpots are mostly cre­pus­cu­lar, al­though they are more noc­tur­nal at south­ern lat­i­tudes be­cause night­time tem­per­a­tures are warmer than at north­ern lat­i­tudes. Be­cause they are small and ec­tother­mic, en­vi­ron­men­tal tem­per­a­tures can strongly af­fect stinkpot ac­tiv­ity. They mostly in­habit highly veg­e­tated areas near water or rel­a­tively shal­low aquatic zones. Stinkpots travel an av­er­age of 27 m daily. ("As­sess­ment and Sta­tus Re­port on the Stinkpot", 2002; Buhlmann, et al., 2008; Rowe, et al., 2009)

• Key Behaviors
• natatorial
• nocturnal
• crepuscular
• motile
• sedentary
• hibernation

Home Range

Aquatic habi­tat di­men­sions often in­flu­ence home range size and shape. Recorded home ranges for stinkpots vary from less than 1 ha to more than 100 ha. On av­er­age, males have home ranges that are twice the size of fe­male home ranges. Within their home ranges, stinkpots may use cer­tain areas more often than oth­ers, de­pend­ing on re­source dis­tri­b­u­tion. Re­sources that af­fect stinkpot ac­tiv­ity in­clude bask­ing sites, for­ag­ing areas, and areas with mi­cro­cli­mates that are suit­able for sur­viv­ing harsh con­di­tions. Stinkpots are not known to de­fend spe­cific ter­ri­to­ries. (Rowe, et al., 2009)

Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and Per­cep­tion

Stinkpots have four glands, lo­cated under their cara­paces, that dis­charge an or­ange fluid when stinkpots are threat­ened. The fluid is a form of pheny­lalka­noic acid, which is mostly used to pro­tect them­selves from preda­tors. How­ever, it is be­lieved that this fluid could also play a role in mat­ing. Stinkpots get their com­mon name due to the strong, dis­taste­ful odor as­so­ci­ated with the fluid.

There is lim­ited in­for­ma­tion on com­mu­ni­ca­tion in stinkpots specif­i­cally. How­ever, the re­pro­duc­tive and mat­ing be­hav­ior of other tur­tles in the genus Ster­notherus in­cludes chem­i­cal com­mu­ni­ca­tion. Tur­tles re­lease chem­i­cals in water to com­mu­ni­cate their body size, health sta­tus, and whether they are male or fe­male. Aquatic tur­tles are also sen­si­tive to vi­bra­tions in the water, which helps them de­tect ap­proach­ing preda­tors and prey. They also use their senses of smell and vi­sion to find prey in the water and on land. (Buhlmann, et al., 2008; Ibanez, et al., 2012; Mitchell, 1994)

• Communication Channels
• chemical

• Other Communication Modes
• scent marks

• Perception Channels
• visual
• vibrations
• chemical

Food Habits

Stinkpots are om­niv­o­rous, con­sum­ing a wide va­ri­ety of plants and an­i­mal prey. Stinkpots mainly eat ben­thic and neustonic taxa. They eat plants such as algae, water lilies (fam­ily Nymphaeaceae), and seeds of both ter­res­trial and aquatic plants. They eat drag­on­flies (fam­ily Odonata), bee­tles (fam­ily Coleoptera), moths (fam­ily Lep­i­doptera), and other in­sects. They also eat mol­lusks (phy­lum Mol­lusca), cray­fish (order De­capoda), and ter­res­trial worms (phy­lum An­nel­ida). They will also op­por­tunis­ti­cally eat car­rion such as dead fish and mol­lusks.

Stinkpots use vi­sual and ol­fac­tory cues to de­tect prey. Adults mostly feed in the water, whereas ju­ve­niles and subadults (1 to 12 years old) more fre­quently feed on land. Stinkpots can have dif­fi­culty quickly cap­tur­ing or trans­port­ing prey com­pared to other fresh­wa­ter tur­tles. This is be­cause their jaw and hyoid move­ments have a low in­te­gra­tion (con­nec­tion). When stinkpots are in the water, prey has to be di­rectly in front of their mouths, be­cause they are not able to cre­ate suc­tion forces.

Stinkpot diets fluc­tu­ate sea­son­ally and vary be­tween sexes. Fe­males con­sume more food than males due to the higher en­er­getic de­mands of ges­tat­ing and lay­ing eggs, as well as lo­cat­ing nest sites and ex­ca­vat­ing nests. (Buhlmann, et al., 2008; Ford and Moll, 2004; Heiss, et al., 2010; Jack­son, 2011; Mitchell, 1994; Natchev, et al., 2011)

• Primary Diet
• carnivore
  • insectivore
  • eats non-insect arthropods
  • molluscivore
  • vermivore
  • scavenger
• herbivore
  • folivore
• omnivore

• Animal Foods
• fish
• eggs
• insects
• mollusks
• terrestrial worms
• aquatic or marine worms
• aquatic crustaceans

• Plant Foods
• seeds, grains, and nuts
• algae

Pre­da­tion

Ju­ve­nile and adult stinkpots serve as prey for a va­ri­ety of preda­tors in their com­mu­ni­ties. Mam­malian preda­tors in­clude rac­coons (Pro­cyon lotor), striped skunks (Mephi­tis mephi­tis), gray foxes (Uro­cyon cinereoar­gen­teus), and North Amer­i­can river ot­ters (Lon­tra canaden­sis). Avian preda­tors in­clude bald ea­gles (Hali­aee­tus leu­co­cephalus), red-shoul­dered hawks (Buteo lin­ea­tus), boat-tailed grack­les (Quis­calus major), and large wad­ing birds, such as herons and egrets (fam­ily Ardei­dae). Rep­til­ian preda­tors in­clude com­mon snap­ping tur­tles (Chely­dra ser­pentina), north­ern water snakes (Nero­dia sipedon), and cot­ton­mouths (Agk­istrodon pis­civorus). Amer­i­can bull­frogs (Litho­bates cates­beianus) and large­mouth bass (Mi­cropterus salmoides) also prey on stinkpots.

Hu­mans (Homo sapi­ens) in­ten­tion­ally and un­in­ten­tion­ally kill stinkpots dur­ing fish­ing ac­tiv­i­ties. If they are caught on fish­ing lines, hu­mans often de­cap­i­tate them. Also, stinkpots can get caught in fish­ing traps and they drown if the traps are not checked fre­quently.

Ter­res­trial preda­tors of eggs and hatch­lings in­clude rac­coons, grey foxes, striped skunks, Vir­ginia opos­sums (Didel­phis vir­gini­ana), kingsnakes (Lam­pro­peltis getula), and scar­let snakes (Ce­mophora coc­cinea). Crows (genus Corvus) will also eat eggs and hatch­lings. Rac­coons will fol­low the tracks of fe­male stinkpots to find their nests. Some nest preda­tors will also op­por­tunis­ti­cally kill nest­ing fe­males.

Stinkpots have a tough shell that pro­tects them and dark col­oration that helps them cam­ou­flage with their en­vi­ron­ment. They re­lease a foul-smelling, or­ange fluid from spe­cial­ized glands when they are threat­ened, and will also bite in de­fense. (Buhlmann, et al., 2008; Mitchell, 1994)

• Known Predators

  • Raccoons (Procyon lotor)
  • Striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis)
  • Gray foxes (Urocyon cinereoargenteus)
  • North American river otters (Lontra canadensis)
  • Bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)
  • Red-shouldered hawks (Buteo lineatus)
  • Snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina)
  • Northern water snakes (Nerodia sipedon)
  • Cottonmouths (Agkistrodon piscivorus)
  • American bullfrogs (Lithobates catesbeianus)
  • Largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides)
  • Virginia opossums (Didelphis virginiana)
  • Crows (genus Corvus)
  • Kingsnakes (Lampropeltis getula)
  • Scarlet snakes (Cemophora coccinea)

Ecosys­tem Roles

A study on a stinkpot pop­u­la­tion in south­ern Penn­syl­va­nia found that 86% of in­di­vid­u­als had algal colonies on their cara­pace. The algae was iden­ti­fied as ei­ther Basacla­dia ch­e­lonum or Cladophora kuet­zin­giana. Stinkpots have a mu­tu­al­is­tic re­la­tion­ship with these algae, with stinkpots pro­vid­ing a pro­tected sub­strate and algae pro­vid­ing nat­ural cam­ou­flage for stinkpots. In the same study in south­ern Penn­syl­va­nia, a leech species, Pla­cob­della par­a­sit­ica, was ob­served ac­tively feed­ing on 33% of the stinkpots sur­veyed.

Stinkpots are im­por­tant bioindi­ca­tors for fresh­wa­ter habi­tats. Water pol­lu­tion and other dis­tur­bances can neg­a­tively af­fect body mass and shell qual­ity, which in turn can im­pact pop­u­la­tion size, re­pro­duc­tive fit­ness, and sus­cep­ti­bil­ity to dis­ease. ("As­sess­ment and Sta­tus Re­port on the Stinkpot", 2002; Ernst, 1986)

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Pos­i­tive

Stinkpots are oc­ca­sion­ally eaten by hu­mans, but are more com­monly owned as pets. How­ever, they are not a pop­u­lar species in the pet trade and so their eco­nomic ben­e­fits to the pet trade are likely neg­li­gi­ble. ("As­sess­ment and Sta­tus Re­port on the Stinkpot", 2002; Mitchell, 1994)

• Positive Impacts
• pet trade
• food

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Neg­a­tive

Stinkpots have no known neg­a­tive im­pacts on hu­mans.

Con­ser­va­tion Sta­tus

Stinkpots are con­sid­ered a species of "least con­cern" on the IUCN Red List. In Canada, stinkpots are listed as a species of spe­cial con­cern. There is no known con­ser­va­tion sta­tus for pop­u­la­tions in Mex­ico. Stinkpots have no spe­cial sta­tus on any other na­tional or in­ter­na­tional con­ser­va­tion lists. They do not often ven­ture far from bod­ies of water, which makes them less vul­ner­a­ble to road mor­tal­ity com­pared to other fresh­wa­ter tur­tle species. Stinkpots have a large ge­o­graphic range and are abun­dant through­out its en­tirety. Al­though water pol­lu­tion and an­thro­pogenic de­vel­op­ment near bod­ies of water can neg­a­tively im­pact their pop­u­la­tions, they are un­likely to be con­sid­ered threat­ened or en­dan­gered in the near fu­ture. In gen­eral, ef­fec­tive fresh­wa­ter tur­tle con­ser­va­tion meth­ods re­quire pro­tec­tion of both ter­res­trial and aquatic habi­tats. There are no known con­ser­va­tion prac­tices in place for stinkpots specif­i­cally.

Stinkpots are oc­ca­sion­ally kept as pets, but are not cur­rently at risk of over-col­lec­tion. ("As­sess­ment and Sta­tus Re­port on the Stinkpot", 2002; Buhlmann, et al., 2008; Kle­mens, 2000; Mitchell, 1994; van Dijk, 2013)

• IUCN Red List

  No special status
  More information

• IUCN Red List

  No special status
  More information

• US Federal List

  No special status

• CITES

  No special status

• State of Michigan List

  No special status

Con­trib­u­tors

Kate­lyn Low­ery (au­thor), Rad­ford Uni­ver­sity, Karen Pow­ers (ed­i­tor), Rad­ford Uni­ver­sity, April Tin­gle (ed­i­tor), Rad­ford Uni­ver­sity, Emily Clark (ed­i­tor), Rad­ford Uni­ver­sity, Cari Mc­gre­gor (ed­i­tor), Rad­ford Uni­ver­sity, Jacob Vaught (ed­i­tor), Rad­ford Uni­ver­sity, Galen Bur­rell (ed­i­tor), Spe­cial Pro­jects.

Ref­er­ences

COSEWIC. As­sess­ment and Sta­tus Re­port on the Stinkpot. none. Cananda: Jonathan Ed­monds. 2002.

An­dres, K., R. Cham­bers. 2006. A test of philopa­try by com­mon musk tur­tles. Amer­i­can Mid­land Nat­u­ral­ist, 156/1: 45-51.

Buhlmann, K., T. Tu­berville, W. Gib­bons. 2008. Tur­tles of the South­east. Athens and Lon­don: The Uni­ver­sity of Geor­gia Press.

Clark, P., M. Ewert, C. Nel­son. 2001. Phys­i­cal aper­tures as con­straints on egg size and shape in the com­mon musk tur­tle, Ster­notherus odor­a­tus. Func­tional Ecol­ogy, 15/1: 70-77.

Ernst, C. 1986. Ecol­ogy of the tur­tle, Ster­notherus odor­a­tus, in south­east­ern Penn­syl­va­nia. Jour­nal of Her­petol­ogy, 20/3: 341-352.

Ernst, C., J. Lovich. 2009. Tur­tles of the United States and Canada. Li­brary of Con­gress: The Johns Hop­kins Uni­ver­sity Press.

Ford, D., D. Moll. 2004. Sex­ual and sea­sonal vari­a­tion in for­ag­ing pat­terns in the stinkpot, Ster­notherus odor­a­tus, in south­west­ern Mis­souri. Jour­nal of Her­petol­ogy, 38/2: 296-301.

Heiss, E., N. Natchev, C. Beisser, P. Lemell, J. Weis­gram. 2010. The fish in the tur­tle: On the func­tion­al­ity of the orophar­ynx in the com­mon musk tur­tle Ster­notherus odor­a­tus con­cern­ing feed­ing and un­der­wa­ter res­pi­ra­tion. The Anatom­i­cal Record, 293/8: 1416-1424.

Ibanez, A., P. Lopez, J. Mar­tin. 2012. Dis­crim­i­na­tion of con­specifics' chem­i­cals may allow Span­ish ter­rap­ins to find bet­ter part­ners and avoid com­peti­tors. An­i­mal Be­hav­ior, 83/4: 1107-1113.

Jack­son, D. 2011. Life in a Shell. Cam­bridge, Mass­a­chu­setts: Har­vard Uni­ver­sity Press.

Kle­mens, M. 2000. Tur­tle Con­ser­va­tion. Wash­ing­ton and Lon­don: Smith­son­ian In­sti­tu­tion Press.

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