They inhabit slow-moving bodies of water, often with soft, muddy bottoms and abundant vegetation.

All members of the family are carnivorous, feeding on crustaceans, aquatic insects, mollusks, annelids, amphibians, small fish, and sometimes carrion.

Kinosternids lay about four hard-shelled eggs during the late spring and early summer.

Some adults also spend the winter on land, constructing a burrow with a small air hole used on warm days.

Studies of the yellow mud turtle in Nebraska, United States, suggest females sometimes stay with the nest and may urinate on the eggs long after laying, to either keep them moist or to protect them from snake predation (by making them less palatable).