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Graptemys pulchra BAUR, 1893

IUCN Red List - Graptemys pulchra - Near Threatened, NT
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Higher TaxaEmydidae, Deirochelyinae, Testudinoidea, Testudines (turtles)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Alabama Map Turtle 
SynonymGraptemys pulchra BAUR 1893: 675
Graptemys pulchra — ERNST & BARBOUR 1989: 219
Graptemys pulchra — CONANT & COLLINS 1991: 58
Graptemys pulchra — CROTHER 2000
Graptemys pulchra — RHODIN et al. 2010
Graptemys pulchra — TTWG 2021 
DistributionUSA (Georgia, Alabama, [Yellow river], SE Louisiana, Mississippi [Pearl River system], Tennessee, Florida Panhandle)

Type locality: “Montgomery, Ala.” [Montgomery Co., Alabama].  
Reproductionoviparous. Exhibits temperature‐dependent sex determination (TSD) fide Cornejo-Páramo et al. 2020 (and references therein). 
TypesLectotype: USNM 8808 (alcoholic subadult female, CL “176 mm”), lake near Montgomery, Montgomery County, Alabama, collected by Dr. Tarleton H. Bean and A. L. Kumlien, Jul 1876. Lectotype designation by Lovich and McCoy (1992: 304) Syntype: FMNH 22171; specimen is misidentified according to Peter Lindemann (1/2007), A. Resetar, pers. comm. 4 Feb 2019). 
DiagnosisAdditional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (2067 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentSynonymy: Praschag et al. 2017 found that G. ernsti, G. gibbonsi, G. pearlensis and G. pulchra are nearly identical genetically and, thus, likely conspecific.

Diet: carnivore.

Habitat: freshwater (lakes, rivers)

Karyotype: McKown (1972) reported that G. pulchra (sensu lato) possesses 26 macrochromosomes, with 48 arms, and 26 microchromosomes, with 26 arms. 
EtymologyNamed after Latin “pulchra” = beautiful, handsome, fine, fair, referring to the head pattern. 
References
  • Baur, G. 1893. Two new species of North American Testudinata. American Naturalist 27: 675–677 - get paper here
  • Baur, G. 1893. Notes on the classification of the Cryptodira. American Naturalist 27: 672-675 - get paper here
  • Bour, R. 2008. Global diversity of turtles (Chelonii; Reptilia) in freshwater. Hydrobiologia 595:593–598 - get paper here
  • BROWN, GROVER J. 2021. Geographic distribution: GRAPTEMYS PULCHRA (Alabama Map Turtle). USA: TENNESSEE: Bradley Co. Herpetological Review 52 (3): 574. - get paper here
  • Brown, Grover, John B. Jensen and Sean P. Graham. 2011. Geographic Distribution:Graptemys pulchra (Alabama map turtle). Herpetological Review 42 (3): 389 - get paper here
  • Cagle, Fred R. 1952. The status of the turtles Graptemys pulchra Baur and Graptemys barbouri Carr and Marchland, with notes on their natural history. Copeia 1952 (4): 223-234 - get paper here
  • Cagle, Fred R. 1954. Two new species of the genus Graptemys. Tulane Studies in Zoology 1 (11): 165-186 - get paper here
  • Coleman, Andrew T. C 2020. Urban Turtle Project: Using Citizen Science to Document Freshwater Turtle Communities and Populations in Birmingham, Alabama, with Focus on Alabama Map Turtles (Graptemys pulchra) Chelonian Conservation and Biology 19 (2): 283-290 - get paper here
  • Conant,R. & Collins,J.T. 1991. A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern/Central North America, 3rd ed. Houghton Mifflin (Boston/New York), xx + 450 p.
  • Cornejo-Páramo, P., Lira-Noriega, A., Ramírez-Suástegui, C. et al. 2020. Sex determination systems in reptiles are related to ambient temperature but not to the level of climatic fluctuation. BMC Evol Biol 20: 103 - get paper here
  • Crother, B. I. (ed.) 2012. Standard Common and Current Scientific Names for North American Amphibians, Turtles, Reptiles, and Crocodilians, Seventh Edition. Herpetological Circular 39: 1-92
  • Ennen, Joshua R.; Jeffrey E. Lovich, Brian R. Kreiser, W. Selman, Carl P. Qualls 2010. Genetic and Morphological Variation Between Populations of the Pascagoula Map Turtle (Graptemys gibbonsi) in the Pearl and Pascagoula Rivers with Description of a New Species. Chelonian Conservation and Biology. 9 (1): 98–113 - get paper here
  • Ernst, Carl H.; Lovich, Jeffrey E. 2009. Turtles of the United States and Canada, 2nd edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, 827 pp. - get paper here
  • Ernst,C.H. and Barbour,R.W. 1989. Turtles of the World. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C. - London
  • Jensen, John B.; Carlos D. Camp, Whit Gibbons, & Matt J. Elliott 2008. Amphibians and reptiles of Georgia. University of Georgia Press, 575 pp.
  • Jones, Robert L.;Majure, Terry C.;Knight, Charles L. 1996. Geographic Distribution. Graptemys pulchra. Herpetological Review 27 (3): 151 - get paper here
  • Kirkpatrick, David 1993. Map turtles of the United States. Reptile & Amphibian magazine (November/December): 7-17
  • Lamb, T., Lydeard, C., Walker, R. B., and Gibbons, J. W. 1994. Molecular systematics of map turtles (Graptemys): A comparison of mitochondrial restriction site versus sequence data. Systematic Biology 43: 543–559. - get paper here
  • Lechowicz, Christopher. 2008. Tour d'horizon de l'histoire naturelle, la taxonomie, la préservation et les problémes actuels des tortues géographiques du genre Graptemys (Agassiz, 1857). Chéloniens 11:30-45
  • Lindeman, Peter V. 2016. Diets of Syntopic Black-knobbed Sawbacks (Graptemys nigrinoda) and Alabama Map Turtles (Graptemys pulchra) in the Alabama River. The American Midland Naturalist 175 (2): 194-205 - get paper here
  • Lovich J E 1985. Graptemys pulchra Baur. Alabama map turtle. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles ( 360: 1-2 - get paper here
  • Lovich, J.E. & McCoy,C.J. 1992. Review of the Graptemys pulchra group (Reptilia: Testudines: Emydidae), with descriptions of two new species. Annals of the Carnegie Museum 61 (4): 293-315 - get paper here
  • McCoy, C. J.; Oscar A. Flores-Villela, Richard C. Vogt, Michael Pappas & J. Kelly McCoy 2020. Ecology of Riverine Turtle Communities in the Southern United States: Food Resource Use and Trophic Niche Dimensions Chelonian Conservation and Biology 19 (2): 197-208 - get paper here
  • Praschag P, Ihlow F, Flecks M, Vamberger M, Fritz U. 2017. Diversity of North American map and sawback turtles (Testudines: Emydidae: Graptemys). Zoologica Scripta 46: 675– 682 - get paper here
  • Praschag, Reiner 2023. Sechs Jahrzehnte Erfahrungen mit der Haltung und Nachzucht von Höcker- und Sägerückenschildkröten der Gattung Graptemys Reiner Praschag. Elaphe 2023 (5): 38-52
  • Praschag, Reiner 2023. Auf Graptemys-Suche in den USA. Elaphe 2023 (5): 24-37
  • Praschag, Reiner 2023. Sägerücken- und Höckerschildkröten der Gattung Graptemys – eine artenreiche Gattung der Sumpfschildkröten. Elaphe 2023 (5): 12-23
  • Reynolds, Robert P.; Steve W. Gotte, and Carl H. Ernst 2007. Catalog of Type Specimens of Recent Crocodilia and Testudines in the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 626: 1-49 - get paper here
  • Seidel, Michael E. & Carl H. Ernst 2017. A Systematic Review of the Turtle Family Emydidae. Vertebrate Zoology 67 (1): 1–122 - get paper here
  • SELMAN, WILL; JOSEPH MCGEE, MARKS MCWHORTER & RYAN DUMAS. 2021. Thirty-three New County Records and Range Extensions for Herpetofauna of Mississippi, USA. Herpetological Review 52 (1): 102–106.
  • Stephens, P.R. & Wiens, J.J. 2003. Ecological diversification and phylogeny of emydid turtles. Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 79: 577-610 - get paper here
  • Stephens, P.R. & Wiens, J.J. 2009. EVOLUTION OF SEXUAL SIZE DIMORPHISMS IN EMYDID TURTLES: ECOLOGICAL DIMORPHISM, RENSCH’S RULE, AND SYMPATRIC DIVERGENCE. Evolution 63-4: 910–925 - get paper here
  • Thomas, R. Brent;Bradford, Johnny 1997. Geographic Distribution. Graptemys pulchra. Herpetological Review 28 (4): 209 - get paper here
  • TTWG; Rhodin, A.G.J., Iverson, J.B., Bour, R., Fritz, U., Georges, A., Shaffer, H.B., and van Dijk, P.P. 2021. Turtles of the World: Annotated Checklist and Atlas of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution, and Conservation Status (9th Ed.). In: Rhodin, A.G.J., Iverson, J.B., van Dijk, P.P., Stanford, C.B., Goode, E.V., Buhlmann, K.A., and Mittermeier, R.A. (Eds.). Chelonian Research Monographs 8:1–472. doi:10.3854/crm.8.checklist.atlas.v9.2021. - get paper here
  • TTWG; Rhodin, A.G.J.; van Dijk, P.P.; Iverson, J.B. & Shaffer, H.B. [turtle taxonomy working group] 2010. Turtles of the World, 2010 Update: Annotated Checklist of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution, and Conservation Status. Chelonian Research Monographs (ISSN 1088-7105) No. 5, doi:10.3854/crm.5.000.checklist.v3.2010 - get paper here
 
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