when I read that male mud turtles have a concave plastron. Except for really big male K. scorpioides scorpioides from South America, I don't think I have ever seen a male mud turtle that had what I would call a concave plastron. Certainly NOTHING like a male box turtle.



A good source for plastron shots of male K. flavescens is the TERRALOG series of Turtles of the World Vol.2, North America. There is at lest two male yellow muds photographed there that show really big tails. In one case, the tail wraps around and touches the hind feet. Another book is 'Schlamschildkroten' which is an all German book on Kinosternon, Sternotherus, Claudius and Staurotypus turtles.



This is a little male K. baurii from the Everglades. He has a fairly large tail with a nice spine on the end. The female's spines are much smaller. An adult male yellow mud turtle has an even more massive tail than this little guy's though.

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