Aspects of the Natural History of the Yellow Mud Turtle Kinosternon flavescens (Kinosternidae) in Iowa: A Proposed Endangered Species

Abstract

Kinosternon flavescens is a xeric adapted turtle; isolated populations are found in the midwestern United States associated with sandy soils and temporary ponds. Turtles at Big Sand Mound, Iowa, are active (aquatic) from late April to mid-July and aestivate terrestrially from mid-July to mid-August. Some turtles might resume activity later in August and early September before winter hibernation. Turtles feed aquatically from mid-May to mid-July. This represents the shortest annual feeding period reported for a turtle. In 1979, following a severe drought, the primary diet shifted from fishes and crayfish to snails. Spring Lake, presently a temporary pond, was occupied more extensively than the semi-permanent Beatty''s Pond. The latter probably provides some stability to the system during drought years. The turtle is associated with other sand prairie relict species and has been proposed as an endangered species.