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Dermatemys mawii GRAY, 1847

IUCN Red List - Dermatemys mawii - Critically Endangered, CR

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Higher TaxaDermatemydidae, Kinosternoidea, Testudines (turtles)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Central American River Turtle
G: Tabasco-Schildkröte
S: Tortuga Blanca 
SynonymDermatemys mawii GRAY 1847: 60
Emys berardii DUMÉRIL, BIBRON & DUMÉRIL 1851
Emys berardii — DUMÉRIL 1852: 231
Dermatemys mawii — GRAY 1864: 391
Emys mawii (fide GRAY 1864: 391)
Dermatemys mavei COPE 1868 (nomen substitutum pro D. mawii)
Dermatemys abnormis COPE 1868
Dermatemys salvinii GRAY 1870
Dermatemys mawii — GÜNTHER 1885: 10
Emys dermatemys DUMÉRIL & BOCOURT 1888 (ex errore)
Dermatemys abnormis — BAUR 1888: 595
Limnochelone micrura WERNER 1901: 298
Dermatemys mawei — MOLL 1986
Dermatemys mawii — ERNST & BARBOUR 1989: 92
Dermatemys mawii — LINER 1994: 31
Dermatemys mawii — KÖHLER 2000: 21
Dermatemys mawii — WILSON et al. 2013
Dermatemys mawii — TTWG 2021 
DistributionMexico (C/S Veracruz, Tabasco, N Chiapas, S Campeche, S Quintana Roo, but absent from most of the Yucatan Peninsula),
N Guatemala, Belize, (Tetela, Oaxaca ?)

Type locality: "South America" (in error); restricted to "Alvarado, Veracruz," Mexico, by Smith and Taylor 1950: 346.  
Reproductionoviparous. Temperature‐dependent sex determination (TSD) fide Cornejo-Páramo et al. 2020 (and references therein). 
TypesHolotype: BMNH 1947.3.4.12.
Holotype: USNM 6545; Syntype: ANSP 61 [abnormis] 
DiagnosisAdditional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (3073 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentDistribution: Not listed for Honduras by WILSON & MCCRANIE (2002) but there are older (apparently incorrect) reports, e.g. NW Honduras (Pough et al. 1998).

This is one of the 25 most endangered turtle species according to a 2003 assessment by the IUCN.

Type species: Dermatemys mawii GRAY 1847: 60 is the type species of the genus Dermatemys GRAY 1847: 55

Habitat: freshwater (lakes, quiet rivers) 
EtymologyNamed after Lieutenant Mawe, a British naval officer who collected the holotype (1833).

The genus was named after Greek dermatos (δέρματος), skin, hide + Greek emys (ἐμῠ́ς), freshwater tortoise. [“...scutellis membranaceis tenuissimis defenso...”]. 
References
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