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Chelydra serpentina (LINNAEUS, 1758)

IUCN Red List - Chelydra serpentina - Least Concern, LC

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Higher TaxaChelydridae, Testudines (turtles) 
Subspecies 
Common NamesCommon Snapping Turtle 
SynonymTestudo serpentina LINNAEUS 1758: 199
Testudo serpentaria — WIEDEMANN 1802 (nom. subst. pro T. serpentina L.)
Chelydra serpentina — SCHWEIGGER 1812
Chelydra lacertina SCHWEIGGER 1812
Testudo serpentina — SHAW & NODDER 1813: plate 1062
Chelonura serpentina — SAY 1824: 206
Testudo longicauda SHAW 1831 (nomen nudum)
Emysaura Serpentina — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1835: 350
Chelydra emarginata AGASSIZ 1857
Chelydra serpentina — GÜNTHER 1885: 10
Macroclemys lacertina — RHOADS 1895: 381
Devisia mythodes OGILBY 1905
Macrochelys lacertina — LARGELAMB 1907
Chelydra serpentina serpentina — STEJNEGER 1914
Chelydra serpentina osceola STEJNEGER 1918: 89
Chelydra osceola STEJNEGER 1918: 89
Chelydra serpentina osceola — MERTENS 1934
Chelydra serpentina — STEBBINS 1985: 97
Chelydra serpentina — CONANT & COLLINS 1991: 41
Chelydra serpentina serpentina — CROTHER 2000
Chelydra serpentina osceola — CROTHER 2000 
DistributionS Canada (from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, S Quebec, Ontario, west to Manitoba, SE Alberta, Saskatchewan),
USA (east of the Rocky Mountains and south to the Texas coast: Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine)

Type locality: “in Calidis regionibus”

Introduced to: USA (Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon), Japan (Honshu), China, Taiwan  
TypesHolotype: USNM 10369 [osceoloa] 
CommentSubspecies: Most subspecies of Chelydra serpentina are now considered as valid species. However, Feuer (1971) reported intergradation between Chelydra serpentina serpentina and Chelydra serpentina osceola, indicating incomplete genetic separation and therefore subspecies status. This is confirmed by Shaffer et al. (in Steyermark et al. 2008) who reject osceola as a clearly distinguishable subspecies.

Reproduction: oviparous. 
References
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