Revised 17 Jan 2022
This post describes what appears to be the first record of Creaser’s Mud Turtle (Kinosternon creaseri) beyond Mexico and in Belize; it was seen on 7 Dec 2021.
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).
This record in Belize was on 7 December 2021 at 2.00 p.m. on the track between La Milpa Ecolodge (Research Station) and the La Milpa Ruins. It was raining and I was driving (with Chi Phan) when I saw a mud turtle scuttling across the track. I stopped to photograph it. 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. Images and the location of this record are also posted on iNaturalist (here). This siting was 3 km west of the lodge and about 12 km ENE of the border point with Mexico and Guatemala.
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)”.
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
