Morphological characteristics of the white-lipped mud turtle

White Lip Mud The morphological characteristics of the white-lipped mud turtle
The white-lipped mud turtle

The characteristic of the white-lipped mud turtle is the carapace Relatively tall, the plastron is very wide, which means that the width of the plastron at the front hinge is 73% of the maximum width of the carapace. The width of the male's femoral scute is 69% of the width of the carapace, while in the female it is 70% of the width of the carapace. %.

The oval carapace of the white-lipped mud turtle can grow to 17.4 cm and is often brown or brown. Both larvae and sub-adults have a single vertebral keel (the center of the carapace). As time goes by, the height of the first and third vertebral shields will decrease and become very, very flat, or even completely flat. disappear. The width of the fourth vertebral shield is greater than the length, and the first one is the widest of all the vertebral shields.

In adults, the length of the 2nd and 5th vertebral shields is probably greater than the width. The first pair of vertebral shields are in contact with the first pair of two marginal shields. The fourth pair of ventral shields on the plastron meet the eleventh pair of marginal shields. The cervical shield on the carapace is very small. The edges on both sides of the shell are The shield is uniformly skewed, and the rear edge of the shield is somewhat spread out. The 10th and 11th piece of edge shield is higher than the 9th piece in front. Often these two pieces are of the same height. Sometimes the 10th piece may be slightly higher than the 11th piece.

The intersection line between the shields will have deeper dents as time passes. The hinge cover on the front line is located between the chest shield and the ventral shield, which is larger. The plastron is very close to the shell, and its finish is not grooved, or is slightly uneven and inconspicuous. The order in which the size of the scutes between the plastrons is arranged is: anal shield > ventral shield > rib shield > laryngeal shield > hip shield > thoracic shield. The length of the laryngeal scute is often less than 55% of the length of the front hinge cover of the plastron. The length of the joint line of the ventral scute is less than 27% of the length of the plastron. The scutes at the armpits are shorter, but the scutes at the groin are longer. , they meet each other on the bridge.

The color of the plastron and armor bridge is generally yellow, and there are black intersecting lines between the shields. The head is of medium size, with a long snout and hooked upper jaw. Its color is generally yellow or cream (some black stripes may appear on the front jaw), with a broad yellowish pattern extending from the sides. The eye sockets spread back to the neck. The color of stripes is probably bronze or light brown, some individuals will haveSmaller golden freckles appear.

There are 1 pair of larger tentacles and 1 pair of very small tentacles on the chin, with the larger one located in front of the smaller tentacles. The hands and feet are light gray, and each front leg has several large, oblique cuticles similar to scales, just above the ankle. At the base of its hind legs is a continuous string of cuticles that gradually spreads forward.

The male's thighs and lower limbs have joints, and the tail ends with horn-like spines. The base of the tail of both males and females has cone-shaped overhangs. In addition, the difference in body shape is also very obvious. The body length of the male (17.4cm) is longer than that of the female (15.8cm). The thicker, longer tail and broad head are all the advantages of separating the two sexes. According to, the female's tail is relatively shorter.


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