General coloration is dark brown to black. There is some yellow on the chin and neck and along the edge of the upper shell. The lower shell is normally yellow with some brown coloration along the scute seams. The Illinois mud turtle prefers a sandy habitat and spends as much time on land as in the water.
Aquatic habitat includes marshes, oxbow lakes and flooded fields.
It spends the winter as well as the hot months of summer buried in the sand on land. It is presumed to eat a variety of aquatic animals and some plants. The Illinois mud turtle is protected as an endangered species in this state and is restricted to a few marshes in northeastern Missouri. A small, dark-colored turtle of the swamps of southeastern Missouri, the Mississippi mud turtle is normally dark brown or black. The lower shell is normally yellow with a rich mottling of brown.