The Cora mud turtle (''Kinosternon cora'') is a species of

mud turtle ''Kinosternon'' is a genus of small aquatic turtles from the Americas known commonly as mud turtles. Geographic range They are found in the United States, Mexico, Central America, and South America. The greatest species richness is in Mexico, a ...

endemic to western Mexico.

Description

The Cora mud turtle is a sister species of the

Vallarta mud turtle The Vallarta mud turtle (''Kinosternon vogti'') is a recently identified species of Kinosternon, mud turtle in the family (biology), family Kinosternidae. While formerly considered conspecific with the Jalisco mud turtle, further studies indicat ...

(''Kinosternon vogti''), with which it shares most morphological characteristics. It is distinguished from other ''Kinosternon'' species (except ''K. vogti'') in having a reduced and weakly movable plastron, and a comparatively wider

carapace A carapace is a Dorsum (biology), dorsal (upper) section of the exoskeleton or shell in a number of animal groups, including arthropods, such as crustaceans and arachnids, as well as vertebrates, such as turtles and tortoises. In turtles and tor ...

. The turtle differs from ''K. vogti'' mainly in being larger, darker in colour, and having shell scutes of different shapes and dimensions. The Cora mud turtle is found in the Mexican states of Nayarit and

Sinaloa Sinaloa (), officially the Estado Libre y Soberano de Sinaloa ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sinaloa), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is d ...

. It is named after the Cora people, a

Native Mexican Indigenous peoples of Mexico ( es, gente indígena de México, pueblos indígenas de México), Native Mexicans ( es, nativos mexicanos) or Mexican Native Americans ( es, pueblos originarios de México, lit=Original peoples of Mexico), are those ...

people who live in Nayarit.

References

Kinosternon Turtles of North America Endemic reptiles of Mexico {{turtle-stub