There is a kind of turtle, because the color of the head is usually yellow or cream, it is sometimes called mango head, do you know what this turtle is called? Hahaha~ I won't sell it to everyone, it is the white-lipped mud turtle.

Today, the editor will give you some information about the white-lipped mud turtle from five directions, let's take a look~

I. Basic information

【Chinese name】White-lipped mud turtle

【Latin name】Kinosternon leucostomum

【English name】White-lipped mud turtle

【Alias】white Egg-lipped turtle

【Kingdom】Animal Kingdom

【Door】Chordate

【Class】Reptiles

【Order】 Turtles

[Family] Kintothoracidae

[Subspecies differentiation] Northern white-lipped mud turtle and southern white-lipped mud turtle (more common)

【Named by】Duméril&Bibron

【Named】1851

II. Morphological characteristics

White-lipped mud turtle The carapace is oval in shape, brown or brown in color, and can reach 17.4 cm in length; no matter juvenile or adult, there is a vertebral keel in the center of the carapace, and the first and third vertebral shields will decrease with age. height, eventually flattening out and even disappearing.

The plastron is larger and close to the outer shell, with no obvious or even no groove at the end; the shields between the plastrons include anal shield, abdominal shield, rib shield, throat shield, hip shield and chest shield The color of the plastron and the bridge is generally yellow, and the seam line between the shields is black.

The head is of moderate size, with a yellowish stripe extending from the sides of the head through the eye sockets back to the neck; the muzzle and hooked upper jaw are more prominent; the chin has 1 pair larger and 1 pair smaller Small tentacles (large tentacles are located in front of small tentacles).

Limbs are light gray with several large, sloping cuticles on the front legs (above the ankles); a series of upwardly extending cuticles at the base of the hind legs.

PS: Due to the different environment of the production area and the water quality of the basin, the white-lipped mud turtle may also have different sizes and different color patterns.

3. Main distribution

The white-lipped mud turtle is mainly distributed in central Veracruz, Mexico, the Pacific tributaries to Nicaragua, and the Atlantic and Pacific tributaries to Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. .

Four. Habits

1. Living habits

White-lipped mud turtles are nocturnal turtles, and usually come out at night to be active. They usually live in slow-flowing riverbeds with soft bottoms and in vegetated waters such as marshes, wetlands, creeks, lagoons, and ponds. But they don't always stay in the water, and they also crawl on land.

2. Eating habits

The white-lipped mud turtle eats a variety of foods, mainly seeds, petals, plant buds, aquatic insects, spiders, snails, worms, small fish, Crustaceans, amphibians (mainly tadpoles), small mammals and reptiles, etc.

3. Reproduction

The reproduction method of the white-lipped mud turtle is oviparous. Female turtles have two peak spawning periods a year, one from late August to early September, and another from mid-February to mid-March.

Females do not lay their eggs in fixed locations. They will lay their eggs in burrows, on the surfaces of leaves and decaying vegetation, and on the ground. Female turtles can lay 1-3 white eggs (about 37×20mm in length) per nest, and the incubation time of eggs is about 126-148 days.

V. Discrimination between males and females

1. Body size: Compared with the same age, male turtles are generally larger than female turtles.

2. Tail: Male turtles have longer and thicker tails, while female turtles have shorter and thinner tails.

3. Whether there are joints between the thighs and lower limbs: Male turtles have joints between their thighs and lower limbs, but female turtles do not.

Okay , the introduction of the white-lipped mud turtle, the editor will stop here! After reading the article, you must have a comprehensive understanding of it. If you have any questions, please leave a message below~