THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY
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Reptilia    Testudines    Kinosternidae  

Florida Mud Turtle
Kinosternon steindachneri (Siebenrock, 1906)
KY-no-ster-non — STINE-dahk-ner-eye

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 There are no current SSAR comments for this taxon.

(,   Museum Voucher) (,   Observation) (,   Literature Record), (,   Citizen Science), (  Fossil)
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Occurrences:; 346 Total; 270 Museum; 76 Other
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Province/State Distribution:

Taxonomic Etymology:
A name that acknowledges both the turtle’s anatomical feature and the scientist who contributed greatly to reptile systematics.
Kinosternon — From Greek κῖνος (kínos) — an alternative form of κινέω (kineō), meaning "to move"; and στέρνον (sternon) — meaning "chest" or "breast". Combined meaning: “Moving chest” or “hinged chest”
steindachneri — Patronym honoring Franz Steindachner (1834–1919), a renowned Austrian zoologist, herpetologist, and ichthyologist whose prolific work in the 19th and early 20th centuries greatly advanced the classification of fishes, amphibians, and reptiles—particularly those from South America and Africa.

First instance(s) of published English names:
Mud Tortoise (Kinosternon pennsylvanicum: Gray, John E. 1856. Catalogue of shield reptiles in the collection of the British Museum. Part I. Testudinata (Tortoises). Taylor and Francis, London, England. 79pp.); Florida Mud Turtle (Kinosternon subrubrum steindachneri: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.);

Taxon Links:

  
Catalog of American Amphibians and Reptiles
  
The Reptile Database
  
NatureServe
  
iNaturalist
  
GenBank
  
USGS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database

Selected References:
1997 Starkey, David E. Molecular systematics and biogeography of the New World turtle genera Trachemys and Kinosternon. Dissertation. Texas A&M, College Station, Texas.. 149pp.
1998 Walker, DeEtte, Paul E. Moler, Kurt A. Buhlmann, and John C. Avise. Phylogeographic patterns in Kinosternon subrubrum and K. bauri based on mitochondrial DNA restriction analysis. Herpetologica 54(2):174-184
2012 Bourque, Jason R. An extinct Mud Turtle of the Kinosternon flavescens Group (Testudines, Kinosternidae) from the Middle Miocene (Late Barstovian) of New Mexico. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 32(1):68-81
2013 Iverson, John B., Minh Le, and Colleen Ingram. Molecular phylogenetics of the mud and musk turtle family Kinosternidae. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 69:929-939
2016 Bourque, Jason R. New mud turtles (Kinosternidae, Kinosternon) from the middle-late Miocene of the United States. Journal of Paleontology 89:821-844.

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Sunday 16 August 2026 22:19 CT