The Musk or Mud Turtles 



Distribution. The exact range of this species is not well 

 known. It has been given as Louisiana, from which state, all 

 of the writer's specimens have been received. In Louisiana 

 this species appears to take the place of the C. pennsylvanicum. 

 It is very probable that further investigation will demonstrate 

 this species to occur over a considerable area of the southern 

 Mississippi Valley, and westward, well into Texas. 



BAUR'S MUD TURTLE; THE BANDED MUD TURTLE 



Cinosternum bauri, (Carman) 



In shape of shell, this reptile resembles the preceding spe- 

 cies of mud turtles, but it may be easily recognised by the banded 

 appearance of the carapace. 



Colouration. The upper shell is brown or olive, with three 

 dull yellow bands extending its entire length. There are two 

 stripes on each side of the head, beginning at the snout and 

 extending backward, above and beneath the eye to the neck. 



Very old and worn specimens show but little trace of the 

 bands upon the carapace unless the shell is moistened. 



Dimension. Length of Carapace 3$ inches. 



Width " 2| 



Length of Plastron 3^ 



Width of Front Lobe, at Hinge ... i J 



" Rear " " .if 



Width of Head 



The measurements were taken from a specimen captured 

 at Enterprise, Florida. 



Distribution. The southeastern portion of the United States. 



THE YELLOW-NECKED MUD TURTLE 



Cinosternum flavescens, (Agassiz) 



From the standpoint of form, size and colouration, this 

 species is similar to the common mud turtle, to which it is 

 closely allied. From a technical view it is described as possess- 

 ing differences in the outlines of the shields composing the plastron 

 the same pertaining to the sutures between the pectoral and 

 humeral shields. These differences may be studied from the 

 illustrations. 



Colouration. With the greater number of specimens 

 the upper shell is possibly lighter in colour than the carapace 



25 



