SUMMARY: This record of Creaser’s Mud Turtle (Kinosternon creaseri) appears to be the first record beyond Mexico and in Belize. It was seen on 7 Dec 2021.
Paul Carter: paulcarter@pacapix.com Posted: 16 Jan 2022. Updated: 9 Jan 2025
Contents
A) Record Description and Images
B) Species notes
C) References
A. Record Description and Images
Date of observation: 7 December 2021 at 2.00 p.m.
Location: on the track between La Milpa Ecolodge (Research Station) and the La Milpa Ruins. This siting was 3 km west of the lodge and about 12 km ENE of the border point with Mexico and Guatemala. Conditions: It was raining, and I was driving (with Chi Phan) when I saw a mud turtle scuttling across the track. I stopped the car and jumped out; the car carried on going because I missed P gear; yelling from Chi alerted me to this as she could not get it into P from the passenger seat; I returned to the moving car and then back to the turtle. I photographed it on the dashboard then put it back where I found it.
Description: The turtle had a noticeable beak; was about 9.5 cm long; and shows a curved anterior margin of femoral scute (see images below). It appears to be Kinosternon creaseri.
iNat records: this record is posted on iNaturalist here. By end-2024 only one other record in Belize has been posted on iNat here (7 Oct 2022) which is a significant range extension.
B. Species Notes
Range: The Reptile Database currently describes it as an endemic to Mexico, its range as “Mexico (Yucatan, Quintana Roo, Campeche)”. The current Red List Assessment is dated 2007 (so not current) and states that “it has been recorded close to the border with Belize but not confirmed within that country” (van Dijk et al, 2007). The nearest record shown on iNaturalist (as at Jan 2022) is in Mexico but only 86 km to the northwest. The American Turtle Observatory is carrying out research on this species at the Puuc region of southern Yucatán (link).
Behaviour: Iverson (1988) notes that “it apparently estivates below ground during most of the dry season, and is active primarily during the wet season when forest pools are present”. The American Turtle Observatory (2021) notes that it is “a little-known Yucatán endemic” that “resides in temporary forest pools, roadside ditches, and deep haltunes (natural pits and wells in limestone)”.
C. References
- American Turtle Observatory (2021 Dec 14). Creaser’s mud turtle (Cryptochelys creaseri). (link)
- Iverson JB (1988). Distribution and status of Creaser’s mud turtle, kinosternon creaseri. The Herpetological Journal 1:285-291.
- Reptile Database (viewed 2021 Dec 14). Kinosternon creaseri HARTWEG, 1934. (link).
- van Dijk PP, Lee J, Calderón Mandujano R (2007). Kinosternon creaseri. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2007: e.T11006A97380420. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2007.RLTS.T11006A3239182.en
END. Link back Contents