Kinosternon flavescens: A Surprising Turtle Record from Illinois

River, Morgan County, Illinois. These were obtained from hoop nets used by fishermen to catch catfish, which type of net always yields a large number of turtles. These five specimens he recently turned over to me for identification and use in a monograph of the turtles of Illinois now in preparation, with notes to the effect that he had seen probably twenty to twenty-five additional specimens between Meredosia and Peoria-a distance of approximately 90 miles by river. As these turtles exhibited characters utterly different from any Illinois member of the family Kinosternidae, to which they obviously belonged, and as I could not place them in any key to the family which I had at my disposal, I borrowed representatives of the known species of this family from the American Museum, the United States National Museum, and from many personal friends throughout the country. From these collections it is evident that the turtle is beyond question Kinosternon flavescens (Agassiz). One glance at the published distribution of this species will explain the purpose of this note. Stejneger and Barbour (1923) give its range as: "Texas, north to Kansas and Colorado, west to Arizona"; Yarrow (1882) reports it from Fort Yuma, California, Fort Union, New Mexico, and Utah; Boulenger (1889): "Arkansas, western Texas, and Gila river"; Pratt (1923): "Texas to Arizona; northward to Kansas and Colorado"; Ellis and Henderson (1913): "Arkansas to Rocky Mountains, north into Colorado"; Jordan (1929): "Kansas to Texas, Colorado and Arizona"; Siebenrock (1907) : "Arkansas, Texas, Arizona"; Garman (1884), evidently quoting Yarrow: "California, Texas, Utah." And so forth. Its occurrence in a thriving condition in central Illinois is, therefore, certainly worthy of mention. Had but one specimen been captured, it might be considered as accidental or as a "transport," and as such hardly warrant serious consideration. But this is not the case. How the species wandered so far from its apparent normal range is a question I am unable to answer, but, inasmuch as all the specimens at hand from Illinois are extremely large(some larger than any specimens loaned to me), and since they have been observed over such an -xpanse of river, it is apparent that, whether their occurrence in Illinois be artificial or not, they are well established and thriving, and not excessively rare. Every effort will be bent toward determining whether the species is breeding in this area. Kinosternon flavescens has certain peculiar characteristics which will,