Exploring The Different Types of Turtles in Mississippi

Some turtles live on land, while other turtles live in water. Mississippi is home to both kinds of turtles. The state also has a stretch of the Gulf Coast, thus enabling interested individuals to see sea turtles in those waters. Put together, Mississippi is home to more than 30 different types of turtles.

What Are Some Examples of the Different Types of Turtles in Mississippi?

Here are 20 examples of the different types of turtles in Mississippi, according to All Turtles.

1. Alligator Snapping Turtle

The Alligator Snapping Turtle is one of the most recognizable turtles on the planet. Its huge, heavy head bears some of the responsibility for that. However, it is even more recognizable because of its raised, spiked shell, which draws comparisons with alligators and ankylosauruses. Even the Alligator Snapping Turtle’s hunting methods are interesting. As National Geographic tells it, said turtle has a worm-shaped bit on its tongue, which serves as a lure for unsuspecting fish and other small worm-eaters.

With that said, turtle enthusiasts should look elsewhere for a pet turtle. First, there are legal barriers to owning Alligator Snapping Turtles throughout most of their range. Second, they are meat eaters that can reach more than two hundred pounds, meaning they are expensive to own. Third, interested individuals should expect a degree of personal risk because Alligator Snapping Turtles are more than capable of biting through bone. It wasn’t that long ago when the Miami Herald and other news sources reported the discovery of a human finger in the stomach of one of these turtles.

2. Chicken Turtle

People often compare unconventional meats to chicken. Amusingly, the Chicken Turtle received its name because of this, seeing as how it was once a popular choice for turtle soup in the Southern United States. Despite this, these turtles are much better at catching fast-moving prey than most people expect. Much of that is because of their extra-long neck, which is why they are also sometimes called American Snake-Necked Turtles.

3. Common Musk Turtle

Common Musk Turtles are convenient as pet turtles. They reach 4 to 5 inches when full-grown, meaning they need less space than their bigger counterparts. Furthermore, Common Musk Turtles are omnivores that spend most of their lives in shallow waters. Interested individuals should know there are two potential issues with these turtles. One, its head can reach its hind legs, which is a problem when it feels stressed enough to bite. Two, it can release a very unpleasant-smelling musk from its underside, thus explaining its name of Stinkpot.

4. Common Snapping Turtle

Snapping turtles belong to the family Chelydridae. Currently, there are two extant genera, with one being the Chelydra and the other being the Macrochelys. Common Snapping Turtles received their name for being the most common of the three species in the genus Chelydra. Specifically, these turtles range from Southeastern Canada to the Rocky Mountains.

It is very easy to distinguish Common Snapping Turtles from the other snapping turtles found in the United States. After all, they have much smoother shells than Alligator Snapping Turtles. As for Suwannee Snapping Turtles, they live in the Suwannee River basin, thus making them much rarer sights. Common Snapping Turtles do have a couple of close relatives. The issue is that one lives in Central America, while the other lives in South America.

In any case, Common Snapping Turtles aren’t as aggressive as their reputation makes them out to be. When they are in the water, they prefer evasion. Common Snapping Turtles are only aggressive towards humans when they feel threatened by the latter. People should be very careful about picking up these turtles. Holding them by the sides is a bad idea because their head can reach those places to bite. Similarly, holding them by the tail risks injury to their spine, while dragging them after getting them to bite down on a branch risks injury to their underside.

5. Diamondback Terrapin

Once upon a time, the term “terrapin” referred to brackish water turtles. Nowadays, the term “terrapin” tends to refer to a small number of turtle species, with the Diamondback Terrapin being one of the most common. Indeed, the latter is one of the most widespread species in North America, ranging from Cape Cod to the Florida Keys. Unsurprisingly, Diamondback Terrapins live in brackish water. As such, they have clever strategies for getting drinking water. For example, these turtles will open their mouths when it is raining. Likewise, these turtles will skim the freshwater that collects on saltwater when it is raining.

6. Eastern Box Turtle

Box turtles live on land for the most part. However, they belong to a family better known for living in watery environments. Primarily, box turtles are famous because they have hinged shells that let them retract their head and limbs before closing up. Eastern Box Turtles are a subspecies of the Common Box Turtle. Sadly, their numbers are dwindling because they are slow-moving, slow-maturing animals that don’t produce many offspring. That means each loss hits them much harder than it would one of their more fecund counterparts.

7. Eastern Mud Turtle

Like Common Musk Turtles, Eastern Mud Turtles are convenient as pet turtles because of their small size, their unfussy eating habits, and their easy-to-secure living environments. On top of this, they are found throughout both the Northeastern United States and the Southeastern United States, though they are much more common in some habitats than in others.

8. Gopher Tortoise

Gopher Tortoises are more associated with Florida and Georgia than Mississippi. That is because they are the state reptiles of both of those states. Still, Gopher Tortoises live throughout the Southeastern United States. Given the name, it should be unsurprising to learn that Gopher Tortoises are excellent diggers. The NRCS calls them a keystone species because their burrows provide shelter to more than three hundred species. That makes it even more unfortunate that the number of Gopher Tortoises is falling because of habitat loss, human predation, and other issues. These turtles are famous for being eaten. At one point, they bore the nickname of Hoover Chickens because they were a convenient source of protein during the Great Depression.

9. Green Sea Turtle

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland included a character called the Mock Turtle. It had a calf’s head, a calf’s tail, and a calf’s back hooves. Otherwise, it was a sea turtle. The Mock Turtle is a reference to the English dish called mock turtle soup, which came into existence in the mid-18th century because Green Sea Turtles had become so rare. Nowadays, Green Sea Turtles remain threatened because of overexploitation.

10. Gulf Coast Box Turtle

Gulf Coast Box Turtles are yet another subspecies of the Common Box Turtle. In their case, they prefer swamps and estuaries, which are shallow but permanent water sources. Other than this, Gulf Coast Box Turtles stand out by being the biggest of the Common Box Turtle’s six subspecies.

11. Gulf Coast Smooth Softshell

On a semi-related note, the Gulf Coast Smooth Softshell is a very different-looking turtle from the Gulf Coast Box Turtle. Softshell turtles received the name because their carapace doesn’t have scales. As a result, the center of their carapace is backed by bone, while the edges of their carapace are much more pliable. The Gulf Coast Smooth Softshell looks like the Spiny Softshell. Fortunately, there are some ways to tell them apart. One example is how the Gulf Coast Smooth Softshell has an unmarked throat rather than a splotchy throat. Another example is how the Gulf Coast Smooth Softshell lacks the spine-like projections on the carapace, which makes the Spiny Softshell one of the more recognizable softshell turtles.

12. Hawksbill Sea Turtle

For the most part, the Hawksbill Sea Turtle looks like other sea turtles. Its most recognizable feature is the sharp beak that provided its name. Hawksbill Sea Turtles are impressive predators, though that is more because of the toxicity of their chosen prey than anything else. These turtles eat sea sponges that can kill other predators. Similarly, these turtles eat Portuguese men-of-war, though they have to close their eyes during the process. Alas, the Hawksbill Sea Turtle is critically endangered. That means there is a very high chance of the species going extinct in the not-so-distant future.

13. Leatherback Turtle

Leatherback Turtles are similar in shape to other sea turtles. Despite that, they are very easy to recognize. Partly, that is because they are huge, so much so they can reach more than 2,000 pounds in weight. However, Leatherback Turtles received their name because their carapace comes coated in a leather-like skin, which makes them one-of-a-kind among sea turtles. These turtles are in a vulnerable state but nowhere near so as some of the other sea turtles. Supposedly, they contain too much fat and too much oil for anyone other than subsistence fishers. Furthermore, Leatherback Turtles are big enough that the mature examples just don’t have a lot of predators going after them.

14. Loggerhead Musk Turtle

Loggerhead Musk Turtles are one of the many species of musk turtles. Chances are good interested individuals can guess their head is their most unusual feature. To be exact, Loggerhead Musk Turtles have a very large head compared to Common Musk Turtles. That very large head is also interesting-looking because it has dark spots and stripes over a lighter-colored background.

15. Mississippi Mud Turtle

Strictly speaking, the Mississippi Mud Turtle is a subspecies of the Common Mud Turtle. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it likes to make its home in bogs and other places with shallow, slow-moving waters. Otherwise, these turtles are much the same as the rest of their species.

16. Razor-Backed Musk Turtle

Razor-Backed Musk Turtles are distinctive-looking turtles that are popular with turtle enthusiasts. Much of their visual appeal comes from their shell, which looks a bit like an upside-down boat hull because of the sharp keel running down its center. Conveniently, these turtles are also on the hardier side of things, thus making them suitable for people who don’t want to spend too much time caring for their pet turtle.

17. Red-Eared Slider

Like mud turtles and musk turtles, pond sliders live in the water. Unlike the former, they are medium-sized rather than small-sized. In total, there are three subspecies of pond sliders. One of them is the Red-Eared Slider, which does indeed have a red stripe on each side of the head. With that said, they aren’t quite as well-liked outside of their native range. As the National Invasive Species Information Center points out, Red-Eared Sliders combine hardiness with popularity as pets. Thanks to that combination, they have spread around the world, which is why importing them is now illegal in Australia, the European Union, and other countries.

18. Southern Painted Turtle

It can be difficult to tell whether two animals are the same species or not. For a turtle-based example, consider the Southern Painted Turtle, which may or may not be a subspecies of the Painted Turtle. It doesn’t help that it and other Painted Turtle subspecies are fully capable of crossbreeding. Southern Painted Turtles stand out in various ways. They are the smallest among their relatives. Furthermore, they are unusual in that the juveniles are more meat-eaters than plant-eaters, while the adults are more plant-eaters than meat-eaters.

19. Three-Toed Box Turtle

Three-Toed Box Turtles have a special status in Mississippi. That is because they are the state reptile. Naturally, Three-Toed Box Turtles have three toes on their hind legs. There are specimens with four toes instead. The issue is that it is unclear whether those are just Three-Toed Box Turtles or Three-Toed Box Turtle and Eastern Box Turtle hybrids. Originally, these turtles lived in the Southeastern United States. Nowadays, they have spread out somewhat because of their popularity as pets. Suffice it to say that careless turtle owners like to dump these turtles out in the wild with zero concern for their native range in much the same manner as other popular pet turtles. Said practice contributes much to the problem of invasive species.

20. Yellow-Bellied Slider

One could argue that turtles are rather cowardly animals. After all, they like to withdraw into their shells, which isn’t the most courageous course of action from a human perspective. As a result, some people might wonder whether the term “yellow belly” came from the Yellow-Bellied Slider. If so, Writing Explained says the answer is “No.” The term “yellow belly” originated in England as an insult directed against people from the Fens, who were said to have yellow bellies like the eels from said region. Regardless, Yellow-Bellied Sliders are another Pond Slider subspecies. They can’t compete with their Red-Eared counterparts, but they are very popular pets as well.