A New Subspecies of Slider Turtle (Pseudemys scripta) from Coahuila, MéxicoLegler, John M.
Science
A New Subspecies of Slider Turtle (Pseudemys scripta) from Coahuila, México
Legler, John M.
Reptiles -- Mexico -- Coahuila (State); Trachemys scripta
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.
Major markings of head and neck as follows: narrow stripe beginning
at posterior edge of eye and extending downward and backward (across
tympanum) on side of neck to shoulder (stripe wider behind than at
origin); wide stripe from lower posterior corner of eye extending
downward, across mandibular articulation (and below tympanum) on
throat to shoulder (wider at origin than behind); postorbital mark,
four to five millimeters wide, approximately 26 millimeters long,
connected to eye by narrow isthmus anteriorly and continuous with
narrow stripe on upper part of neck posteriorly; stripe on mandibular
symphysis widened and bifurcated posteriorly, its two branches
enclosing one wide and two narrow stripes; wide stripe beginning
in middle of mandibular ramus and running backward to point below
mandibular articulation on each side; top of head, sides of snout, and
areas between above-mentioned major stripes, marked with numerous,
fine, often indistinct pale lines.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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