#1509 · 🦎 reptiles
Eastern Musk Turtle
🇳🇱 Muskusschildpad ·Sternotherus odoratus
7 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
what is it?
Sternotherus odoratus is a species of small turtle native to southeastern Canada and much of the Eastern United States. It is also known as the common musk turtle , eastern musk turtle , or stinkpot due to its ability to release a foul musky odor from scent glands on the edge of its shell, possibly to deter predation. These turtles are grouped in the same family as Mud Turtles.
base stats
Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).
fun facts
- No confirmed wild sightings in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: you'd have to travel for this one.
- 15,538 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Scientifically named by Pierre André Latreille in 1801 (225 years ago).
fact sheet
- English
- Eastern Musk Turtle
- Nederlands
- Muskusschildpad
- scientific name
- Sternotherus odoratus
- class
- Reptilia
- order
- Testudines
- family
- Kinosternidae
- IUCN Red List
- LC · least concern
- sightings in NL
- 0
- sightings in Europe
- 12
- sightings worldwide
- 15,538
- GBIF records in NL
- 1
- weight
- —
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1801 by Pierre André Latreille
IUCN in Dutch: niet bedreigd. Blank means the sources don't say.
relatives· Kinosternidae
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 39703, Wikidata Q674891, GBIF 5220393, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.