Description: The Arizona mud turtle has a yellowish brown carapace and a yellow plastron. It reaches about 6 inches in length. The neck and throat are yellow or cream, and the neck has small tubercles.

Habitat: Inhabits various quiet or slow flowing bodies of water, usually with soft mud or sand bottom, in areas of desert. Often in temporary water, may travel overland.

Range: Sonoran Desert of southern Arizona and adjacent Mexico.

Found in these States: AZ

Diet: Favorite prey items of the Arizona mud turtle are tadpoles, frogs, and toads, but it also eats invertebrates.

Reproduction: Two or three (typically 2) clutches of 2 to 7 eggs are laid from July to mid-August in the Southwest. Eggs hatch perhaps after 10+ months at beginning of next rainy season in Southwest. Females become sexually mature in about 6 to 10 years in the Southwest

Status: Because they require consistent sources of water, mud turtles are affected by factors that influence water levels, including groundwater pumping, drought, agricultural pesticide use, intensive cattle grazing, and the introduction of exotic vegetation. Also, because the streams and perennial pools in which they reside are often isolated, populations are vulnerable to local extinctions if the habitat is destroyed. Research is needed on mud turtle reproductive biology and survival to determine minimum sizes for populations to be considered viable.

Subspecies: None

Taxonomy: