Loggerhead musk turtle: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 18:18, 3 December 2021

Revision as of 18:18, 3 December 2021

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The '''loggerhead musk turtle''' (''Sternotherus minor)'' is a [[species]] of [[turtle]] in the [[Family (biology)|family]] [[Kinosternidae]]. This turtle has a large head which has a light colored background with dark spots or stripes present on the head and neck.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=A.|first=Buhlmann, Kurt|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/263712429|title=Turtles of the southeast|date=2008|publisher=Univ. of Georgia Press|isbn=978-0-8203-2902-4|oclc=263712429}}</ref> The average size of a loggerhead musk turtle is about 3 to 5 inches in [[carapace]] length.<ref name=":0" /> There are two [[subspecies]] of ''Sternotherus minor'': ''Sternotherus minor minor'' (loggerhead musk turtle) and ''Sternotherus minor peltifer'' (stripe-necked musk turtle)''.''<ref name=":0" />

The species is native to the southern [[United States]], being found in [[river]]s, [[wetland]]s, and [[stream]]s in states such as [[Florida]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], [[Alabama]], [[Tennessee]], [[Mississippi]], [[North Carolina]], and [[Virginia]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Dijk (N/A)|first=Peter Paul van|date=2010-08-01|title=IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Sternotherus minor|url=https://www.iucnredlist.org/en|journal=IUCN Red List of Threatened Species}}</ref><ref name=":8">{{Cite book|last=Powell|first=Robert|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/913923783|title=Peterson field guide to reptiles and amphibians of eastern and central North America|date=2016|others=Roger Conant, Joseph T. Collins, Isabelle Hunt Conant, Tom R. Johnson, Errol D. Hooper, Travis William Taggart|isbn=978-0-544-12997-9|edition=Fourth edition|___location=Boston|oclc=913923783}}</ref> The diet of an adult loggerhead musk turtles consists mostly of [[clam]]s and [[snail]]s.<ref name=":7">{{Cite journal|last=Pfaller|first=Joseph Bryce|date=2009|title=Bite-Force Generation and Feeding Biomechanics in the Loggerhead Musk Turtle, Sternotherus Minor: Implications for the Ontogeny of Performance|url=https://fsu.digital.flvc.org/islandora/object/fsu%3A176434/|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last=Cox|first=William A.|last2=Wyatt|first2=Steven T.|last3=Wilhelm|first3=Walter E.|last4=Marion|first4=Ken R.|date=December 1988|title=Infection of the Turtle, Sternotherus minor, by the Lung Fluke, Heronimus mollis: Incidence of Infection and Correlations to Host Life History and Ecology in a Florida Spring|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1564348|journal=Journal of Herpetology|volume=22|issue=4|pages=488|doi=10.2307/1564348|issn=0022-1511}}</ref>

Currently, the [[conservation status]] of the loggerhead musk turtle is [[Least-concern species|least concern]] and its common threats include [[Habitat destruction|habitat loss]] and human interactions such as car or boating accidents.<ref name=":2" />