musk turtlen.
/ˈmʌsk ˌtəːtl/, U.S. /ˈməsk ˌtərd(ə)l/ Any of several small North American freshwater turtles of the genus Sternotherus (or Kinosternon), having scent glands that produce an unpleasant musky odour when they are disturbed; esp. the stinkpot, S. odoratus.
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the world > animals > reptiles > order Chelonia (turtles and tortoises) > [noun] > suborder Cryptodira > family Kinosternidae > member of genus Sternothaerus (musk-turtle)
musk tortoise1842
musk turtle1868
sternothere1876
stink-pot1903
1868 Amer. Naturalist 2 330 The Turtle which you sent..is the ‘Musk Turtle’, Aromochelys odoratus.
1885 J. S. Kingsley Standard Nat. Hist. (1888) III. 452 Aromochelys odorata is a small turtle found in pools..and known as the musk-turtle, besides other savory names.
1926 J. K. Strecker in J. F. Dobie Rainbow in Morning (1965) 58 The ‘stink pot’ is a small turtle... Some men..call him the musk turtle.
1989 Jrnl. Zool. 219 141 The weight of chelonian eggs ranges from just under 4 g in the musk turtle..to about 107 g in the giant tortoise.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1868