what kind of turtle do i have?

Question
How do I know what kind of turtle I have? It has a pointed snout, it is darkly colored, and it has yellow lines on it's head.

Answer
Hi Sara, It sounds like it may be  a musk turtle, also known as a stinkpot. Is it quite small? Musk turtles only reach about 4 inches length. The other possibility is a mud turtle. I have linked a site that has photos of both types and a description of how to tell them apart by looking at the bottom shell here:

http://www.snakesandfrogs.com/scra/turtles/mudmuskturtle.htm

If he does look like that then try this page

http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/world_of_turtles/

Which is a larger photo collection of turtles. Click the small images to enlarge them.