Literaturdatenbank
Literaturdatenbank |
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Jackson, D. R. (2002). Survey of an important distributional gap in the florida range of the river cooter and other freshwater turtles. final report. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Tallahassee, Florida, USA.
Added by: Admin (06 Jan 2014 18:24:40 UTC) |
| Resource type: Report/Documentation BibTeX citation key: anon2002e View all bibliographic details  |
Categories: General Keywords: Chelydridae, Emydidae, Habitat - habitat, Kinosternidae, Macrochelys temminckii, Nordamerika - North America, Pseudemys concinna, Schildkröten - turtles + tortoises, Sternotherus minor Creators: Jackson Publisher: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Tallahassee, Florida, USA |
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| Abstract |
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Considerable controversy surrounds the taxonomic relationships of Florida turtles of the genus Pseudemys. One disagreement involves whether river cooter (P. concinna sensu lato) populations in the Florida panhandle and peninsula are better addressed as separate species or as conspecific populations. The former viewpoint recognizes peninsular turtles as P. suwanniensis, largely based on minor morphological differences and a supposed geographic disjunction in the Florida Big Bend region. This study examined the merits of both purported lines of evidence via field surveys of rivers in Taylor and adjacent counties and a complementary morphological examination of turtles on either side of the supposed hiatus, with special emphasis on Wakulla River turtles. Additional effort was made to determine whether the same distributional hiatus exists, as current literature suggests, for 2 other riverine turtles, the loggerhead musk turtle (Sternotherus minor) and alligator snapping turtle (Macrochelys temminckii). Field and museum work documented 16 drainage records for 7 species of turtles. These include 5 new drainage records for the focal species of this study. The river cooter and loggerhead musk turtle each are reported for the first time from both the Econfina and Fenholloway river systems, with the former species also being documented from the Steinhatchee River. No alligator snapping turtles were confirmed, although potential habitat exists within the study area. Morphometric comparison of river cooters from peninsular and panhandle Florida revealed substantial individual variation but a lack of significant differences among geographic regions. Coupled with reduction of the supposed distributional hiatus, insufficient evidence exists to support recognition of peninsular populations as a distinct species.
Added by: Admin |