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UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLICATIONS MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

Volume 13, No. 3, pp. 73-84, pls. 9-12, 3 figs. August 16, 1960

A New Subspecies of Slider Turtle (Pseudemys scripta) from Coahuila, México

JOHN M. LEGLER

UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS LAWRENCE 1960

UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLICATIONS, MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

Editors: E. Raymond Hall, Chairman, Henry S. Fitch, Robert W. Wilson

Volume 13, No. 3, pp. 73-84, pls. 9-12, 3 figs. Published August 16, 1960

UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Lawrence, Kansas

PRINTED IN THE STATE PRINTING PLANT TOPEKA, KANSAS 1960

28-3860

A New Subspecies of Slider Turtle (Pseudemys scripta) from Coahuila, México

JOHN M. LEGLER

In September, 1958, the author and two colleagues collected a large series of Pseudemys in small ponds and in a river in the basin of Cuatro Ciénegas, Coahuila. The specimens prove to represent a previously unrecognized subspecies of Pseudemys scripta. The subspecies is named in honor of Edward Harrison Taylor who has contributed more than any other person to our present knowledge of the herpetofauna of México.

=Pseudemys scripta taylori= new subspecies

(Pls. 9-12, Figures 1 & 2)

Holotype.--Univ. Kansas Mus. Nat. Hist., No. 46952, adult female, alcoholic; 16 km. S Cuatro Ciénegas, Coahuila, México; 6 September 1958; original number 1694 John M. Legler.

Paratypes.--A total of 52 specimens as follows (numbers or series of numbers marked with an asterisk are for specimens prepared as dry shell with soft parts in alcohol): KU 46932-4*, 46949-51, 46953-67, 46969 (females), 46935*, 46936-48, 46968 (males), same data as holotype, 6 to 8 September 1958; UU 3416 (male), same locality, 29 to 30 July 1959; KU 46971, 46973* (females), 46972 (male), 46970, 46974 (juveniles), 6 mi. W Cuatro Ciénegas, 3 to 6 September 1958; IU 43585, 43587-9 (females), 43586, 43590 (males), same locality, 11 July 1958; CNHM 55655 (female), same locality, 22 August 1939; KU 46976 (female), Río Chiquito, 10 km. S Cuatro Ciénegas, 9 September 1958; UU 3415 (female), 8.5 mi. SW Cuatro Ciénegas, 1 August 1959.

Diagnosis.--A subspecies of Pseudemys scripta most closely resembling P. s. elegans, but differing from that subspecies in having: 1) extensive black plastral pattern, all parts of which are interconnected, covering approximately half of plastron; 2) tendency toward melanism, in large adults of both sexes, especially noticeable on posterior part of plastron; 3) cutting edge of lower jaw coarsely serrate; 4) tendency for femoral edges of plastron to be reflected ventrally, especially in males; and, 5) pectoral scute longer than gular.

Description of holotype (measurements given in Table 1).--Carapace oval in dorsal aspect, slightly narrowed behind, nearly straight across anterior margin, bluntly serrate behind; shell deep, highly arched in cross section; height of shell 53 per cent of width; surface of shell having longitudinal striations; middorsal keel weakly developed, scarcely discernible except on third central lamina; lateral margin of carapace not at all reflected, posterolateral margins flared outward; central laminae all broader than long, the first urn-shaped.

TABLE 1. MEASUREMENTS (IN MILLIMETERS) OF THE HOLOTYPE (46952) AND NINE ADULT, TOPOTYPIC PARATYPES OF PSEUDEMYS SCRIPTA TAYLORI NEW SUBSPECIES. HEIGHT WAS MEASURED IN A VERTICAL LINE FROM THE CENTER OF THE PLASTRON.

KEY: A: Collection and Catalogue No. B: Sex C: Length of Carapace D: Width of Carapace E: Length of Plastron F: Width of Plastral Forelobe (Humeropectoral) G: Width of Plastral Hind Lobe (Mid-femoral) H: Height I: Width of Head

================================================================= A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I -----------+----------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+------ KU 46948 | | 179 | 127 | 157 | 71 | 69 | 69 | 28 KU 46941 | | 148 | 107 | 129 | 59 | 59 | 57 | 25 KU 46968 | | 139 | 99 | 116 | 55 | 54 | 57 | 25 KU 46937 | | 128 | 100 | 115 | 54 | 52 | 47 | 21 KU 46944 | | 105 | 82 | 93 | 46 | 43 | 38 | 19 KU 46932 | [Female] | 214 | 158 | 196 | 86 | 84 | 87 | 37 KU 46952 | [Female] | 202 | 149 | 186 | 87 | 86 | 79 | 33 KU 46957 | [Female] | 188 | 138 | 167 | 79 | 80 | 68 | 31 KU 46959 | [Female] | 156 | 118 | 149 | 71 | 71 | 70 | 29 KU 46962 | [Female] | 132 | 101 | 119 | 58 | 53 | 51 | 24 -----------+----------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+------

Ground color of carapace (hereinafter, colors are those of preserved specimen) dark olive; upper surface of each marginal scute having round or oval black mark, two such marks on each marginal of first pair; marks on margin of anterior half of carapace having pale orange-yellow borders, marks more posteriorly having indistinct borders or no border; upper surface of carapace having numerous, irregularly arranged black marks on a faint reticulum of pale lines; one or two large oval marks on each lateral scute arranged more or less vertically, other marks on laterals irregular in size and arrangement; central scutes having three to five longitudinally arranged, narrow black marks on each scute.

Ground color of plastron pale yellow, anterior half extensively marked with black along laminal seams; all plastral markings interconnected; undersurfaces of marginals on anterior half of shell having pale centers; undersurfaces of posterior marginals and posterior half of plastron solid black.

Plastron more or less evenly rounded in front, slightly indented on gular border; posterolateral free edge of plastron reflected slightly downward; posterior border of plastron having wide shallow anal notch; plastral laminae, in order of length--abdominal, anal, pectoral, gular, femoral, humeral; abdominal lamina longer than combined lengths of pectoral and humeral or humeral and gular.

Head moderately wide; snout slightly pointed in dorsal view, curving evenly backward and downward from nostrils in profile; upper jaw notched in middle, cutting edges finely and unevenly serrate, crushing surfaces having distinct ridge bearing fine denticulations but no large teeth; cutting edges of lower jaw coarsely and evenly serrate, tooth at symphysis relatively large; raised ridges of lower crushing surfaces each having low blunt tooth and many fine denticulations.