Musk glands in Recent Turtles

Data on the morphology and distribution of musk glands were obtained for most genera of living turtles. All turtle genera except those of the family Testudinidae and the Chrysemys complex of the subfamily Emyinae have musk glands. Musk glands are a useful systematic character which supports recent studies on turtles with notable exceptions in the families Emyidae and Trionychidae. A discrete number of morphological patterns of musk glands, ducts, and orifices is described and arranged in five hypothetical evolutionary sequences. Some speculations are made correlating possible function and selective advantage with structure.