Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have 2.4 white(yellow) cheek muds. Thing is how do tell the difference between the 2 subspecies of K.L.leucostomum & K.L.postinguinals without knowing where they were collected. What are the actual locales for the 2 subspecies? I'm asking because 2 of my captives have lighter faces & slightly different head & plastron patterns.

From Turtles of the World (http://ip30.eti.uva.nl/BIS/turtles.php?menuentry=soorten&id=234):

Two subspecies are currently recognized by Berry (1978a). Kinosternon leucostomum leucostomum (Duméril and Bibron, in Duméril and Duméril, 1851), the northern white-lipped mud turtle, occurs in the Atlantic drainages of southern Mexico at elevations of less than 300 m, from central Veracruz southward across the base of the Yucatán Peninsula to Belize, Guatemala, and northern Nicaragua.Its carapace is high and the plastron is large; the mean width of the plastron at the anterior hinge is 73% of the maximum carapace width in both sexes, and 69% in males and 70% in females at the midfemoral width. Gular scute length is about 14-15% of the carapace length. The inguinal scute is long and usually touches the axillary. Vinculae are poorly developed, and the light postorbital stripes are obscure or disappear in adults. The southern white-lipped mud turtle K. l. postinguinale (Cope, 1887) occurs in the Atlantic and Pacific drainages from the Rio San Juan in Nicaragua southward to Colombia, Ecuador, and northern Peru. This subspecies has a relatively flattened carapace and a narrower plastron; the mean width of the plastron at the anterior hinge is only 69% of the maximum carapace length in males and 71% in females, and at the midfemoral width, only 66% in males and 68% in females. The gular scute is short, only about 12% of the carapace length. The inguinal is set well back on the bridge and is separated from the axillary. Vinculae are well-developed in males, and the postorbital stripes are usually well-marked.

This should give you an idea!
All the best,
Job (NL).