Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I found this little guy in the upper Conasauga River. This is well within the range of S. m. peltifer (Stripe-necked Musk Turtle), but this fellow looks to me like S. m. minor (Loggerhead Musk). Any opinions?

What are the chances that these two putative subspecies naturally occur in this river and maintain their identities? Of course, he could just be a waif or a releasee, but I have trouble imagining anyone transporting such a turtle way out into the mountains like that.

All of the other musks I've seen in the stream are perfectly good stripenecks, like these guys.

I'm surprised nobody has jumped on this. Peltifer are such interesting turtles and your pics of that big head are really thought provoking (and fun to look at). My opinion is a general one that is shared by a couple of my turtle friends. I think it is an older member of its community that has developed the rarely seen look of a very mature peltifer in that area. It does not surprise me that it has a similar look of a loggerhead since, without the striping, they can be quite similar. I've often wondered how much the effect of diet has on the development of big heads. Perhaps this guy developed a disproportionate tast for molluscs. A very interesting turtle for sure. Thank you for posting those pics! Lets hear some opinions from you peltifer fans!

peltifer and minor can and do integrade. Plus I've had hundreds of each and found that as they get older, they both start to get dark and tough to tell which is which... My guess is that it is a peltifer though......