Description: A little turtle, S. depressus can have a straight carapace length of 3.0 to 3.9 inches as an adult, with a record length of 4+1/2 inches. Both the common name and specific name refer to the fact that the species' carapace (upper shell) is much lower and flatter than those of the other members of the genus Sternotherus. In fact the flattened musk turtle looks as if someone had accidentally stepped on it, hence the common name.

Habitat: This turtle is mostly found in clear, shallow streams above the fall line. Rocky to sandy-bottomed streams are preferred.

Range: S. depressus is an endemic with a restricted range, historically inhabiting the Black Warrior River drainage of north central Alabama. Serious declines have been observed throughout its range, and it has likely been extirpated from greater than 70% of its historic range, especially in much of the Mulberry Fork and the Locust Fork of the upper Black Warrior River Basin. Sipsey Fork populations have fared significantly better due to protection offered by the Bankhead National Forest.

Found in these States: AL

Diet: The flattened musk turtle feeds underwater on invertebrates such as snails and mussels. Large adult musk turtles have expanded jaws for crushing mollusks.

Reproduction: Females come out of the water and deposit their eggs in shallow nests dug into the ground near the stream. Each female chooses a different site. Clutch size appears small; two eggs are reported in one clutch. Eggs are oblong, about 1.25 inches long, with brittle shells. The incubation period is probably dependent on temperature and perhaps other physical factors, but ranges from 45 to 122 days. Once hatching begins the actual emergence from the egg takes anywhere from 12 hours to two days. The hatchling has a carapace length of about 1 inch. Growth to maturity may take four to six years for males, and six to eight years for females

Status: Erosion and siltation from extensive strip mining for coal and damming have been the leading causes of decline in the flattened musk turtle, with clear cutting, development, and pollution also playing significant roles in habitat degradation throughout its historic range. As historically rock and bedrock bottom creeks have turned to mud and sand bottom creeks due to erosion, S. depressus has lost the rock crevices it relies on to escape predation and the high stream flow rates that characterize the streams it inhabits.

Subspecies: None

Taxonomy: