Description: This dark, medium sized aquatic turtle, is 7 inches long (shell), with a mottled pattern on the head, neck, and limbs. Its head and neck are brown or olive on top, contrasting with plain yellow or cream color below. The throat has nipple like projections. The upper shell (carapace) is olive brown to dark brown with dark seams; the lower shell (plastron) is hinged, front and rear, and is yellow to brown. The shell contains 23 marginal shields. Long barbells are typically present on the chin, and all four feet are webbed.

Habitat: This turtle inhabits spring-fed pools, ponds, and stream courses with perennial or near-perennial water.

Range: This turtle is known from pond and limited stream habitat at Quitobaquito Springs in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Arizona, and from a few locations in the nearby Rio Sonoyta, Sonora, Mexico, including the Sonoyta sewage ponds adjacent to the Rio Sonoyta.

Found in these States: AZ

Diet: Sonoyta mud turtles mostly feed on aquatic insects and snails that live on vegetation that grows in ponds and streams. In habitats with poor aquatic invertebrate faunas, Sonoyta mud turtles shift to omnivorous feeding including plants and vertebrates that are available including mesquite tree pods and fish.

Reproduction: The Sonoyta mud turtle will lay a clutch of 2­9 eggs from May to September. The eggs are buried in soil on land.

Status: In 1997, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the Sonoyta mud turtle as a "candidate" for listing under the Endangered Species Act.

Taxonomy: