You are here » home › search results › Pelusios subniger

Pelusios subniger (BONNATERRE, 1789)

IUCN Red List - Pelusios subniger - Least Concern, LR
iNaturalist logo

Can you confirm these amateur observations of Pelusios subniger?

Add your own observation of
Pelusios subniger »

We have no photos, try to find some by Google images search: Google images

Higher TaxaPelomedusidae, Pelomedusoidea, Pleurodira, Testudines (turtles)
SubspeciesPelusios subniger subniger (BONNATERRE 1789)
Pelusios subniger parietalis BOUR 1983 
Common NamesE: Pan-hinged terrapin, East African Black Mud Turtle, Black-bellied hinged terrapin 
SynonymTestudo subnigra LACÉPÈDE in BONNATERRE 1789: 30
Testudo nigricans DONNDORFF 1798
Emys castanea SCHWEIGGER 1812
Sternothaerus leachianus BELL 1825
Sternotherus Nigricans — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1835: 399
Sternotherus derbianus GRAY 1844
? Sternothaerus subniger — GRAY 1863: 405
Sternotherus derbianus — GRAY 1864: 167
Sternotherus subniger — GRAY 1864: 168
Sternothaerus nigricans — BOULENGER 1889
Sternothaerus derbianus — BOULENGER 1889
Sternothaerus nigricans — TORNIER 1897: 4
Sternothaerus nigricans — ANDERSSON 1910
Sternothaerus nigricans castaneus — BARBOUR 1918: 489
Pelusios nigricans rhodesianus HEWITT 1927
Pelusios subniger — LINDHOLM 1929
Pelusios nigricans castanoides HEWITT 1931
Pelusios bechuanicus FITZSIMONS 1932
Pelusios carinatus LAURENT 1956
Pelusios subniger — AUERBACH 1987: 73
Pelusios subniger — ERNST & BARBOUR 1989: 20
Pelusios subniger subniger — BROADLEY & HOWELL 1991: 7
Pelusios subniger — GLAW & VENCES 1994: 228
Pelusios subniger — BROADLEY 1998
Pelusios subniger — TTWG 2014
Pelusios subniger — SPAWLS et al. 2018: 61
Pelusios subniger subniger — TTWG 2021

Pelusios subniger parietalis BOUR 1983
Pelusios subniger parietalis — ERNST & BARBOUR 1989: 20
Pelusios subniger parietalis — MCCORD et al. 2004
Pelusios subniger parietalis — TTWG 2014
Pelusios subniger parietalis — TTWG 2021 
DistributionBurundi, Tanzania, Mozambique, S Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire), Zambia, N Botswana, Zimbabwe, Central African Republic, Namibia, E Republic of South Africa,
Gloriosa Island, Madagascar, Seychelles, Sao Tome,
Gambia (MacCarty Island, HÅKANSSON 1981), Cameroon

Introduced to Mauritius, Gloriosa Isles, Diego Garcia, Chagos Archipelago, and Guadeloupe, Lesser Antilles.

Type locality: Unknown; later designated as "Tamatave," on the east coast of Madagascar, by Bour (1978) and confirmed by Bour (1982).

parietalis: Seychelles Islands (Cousin Island)  
Reproduction 
TypesHolotype: MNHN-RA 8366
Holotype: MTD 33842 (given as MTKD); Paratypes: SMNS 4647.1, adult male, MTKD 33843, adult male, MNHN 19996-7801, adult male [soussensis] 
Diagnosis 
CommentIt remains unclear whether the introduced population on Mauritius still exists.

Please note that SAVAGE (2003) suggested to reject Lacepède’s (1788) “Histoire Naturelle des Quadrupèdes Ovipares” as a non-binominal work (Case 3226; Bull. Zool. Nom. 60 (2)). This application has been successful. The ICZN (2005) has ruled that Lacepède’s (1788) work (and all subsequent editions of this work) are rejected as an unavailable, non-binominal work.

Specimens from Guadeloupe assigned to P. subniger were actually P. castaneus according to Iverson (1992).

Type species: Testudo subnigra LACÉPÈDE in BONNATERRE 1789: 30 is the type species of the genus Pelusios WAGLER 1830. According to STEJNEGER 1902: 237, Emys castanea SCHWEIGGER 1812 and Testudo subnigra = Testudo nigricans DONNDORFF 1798 are the type species of the genus Pelusios WAGLER 1830

Habitat: freshwater (Lakes, quiet rivers) 
EtymologyThe genus is named after Greek pelos = earth, mud; an allusion to its habit of aestivating in a mud wallow (Gotch 1986). 
References
  • Andersson, Lars Gabriel 1910. Reptiles and batrachians from the north-west of Madagascar collected by V. Kaudern, 1906-1907. Arkiv för Zoologi 7 (7): 1-15. - get paper here
  • Auerbach, R.D. 1987. The Amphibians and Reptiles of Botswana. Mokwepa Consultants, Botswana, 295 pp.
  • Barnett, Linda K.;Emms, Craig 1997. Herpetological observations in the Chagos Archipelago, British Indian Ocean Territory. British Herpetological Society Bulletin (59): 6-12
  • Bates, M.F.; Branch, W.R., Bauer, A.M.; Burger, M., Marais, J.; Alexander, G.J. & de Villliers, M.S. (eds.) 2014. Atlas and Red List of the Reptiles of South Africa, Lesotho, and Swaziland. Suricata 1. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria, 512 pp.
  • Böhme,W. 1975. Zur Herpetofaunistik Kameruns, mit Beschreibung einens neuen Scinciden. Bonner Zoologische Beiträge 26 (1-3): 2-48 - get paper here
  • Bonin, F., Devaux, B. & Dupré, A. 2006. Turtles of the World. English translation by P.C.H. Pritchard. Johns Hopkins University Press, 416 pp.
  • Bonnaterre, P.J. 1789. Tableau encyclopédique et méthodique des trois règnes de la nature, . . . Erpétologie. Panckoucke, Paris, xxviii+71 pp. (+ plates + index) - get paper here
  • Bour, R. 1979. Les tortues actuelles de Madagascar (République Malagache): liste systématique et description de deux sous-espèces nouvelles (Reptilia-Testudines). Bulletin de la Société Etude des Sciences Anjou, N.S. 10:141-154 [1978]
  • Bour, R. 1982. Pelomedusa subrufa (Lacépède, 1788), Pelusios subniger (Lacépède, 1788) (Reptilia, Chelonii) et le séjour de Philibert Commerson à Madagascar. Bulletin du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle. Paris. sér. 4, Sec. A(4): 531-539.
  • Bour, R. 2008. Global diversity of turtles (Chelonii; Reptilia) in freshwater. Hydrobiologia 595:593–598 - get paper here
  • Branch, William R. 1993. A Photographic Guide to Snakes and Other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Cape Town: Struik Publishers, 144 S.
  • Broadley, D. G. & HOWELL, K. M. 1991. A check list of the reptiles of Tanzania, with synoptic keys. Syntarsus 1: 1—70
  • Broadley, D.G. 1962. On some reptile collections from the North-Western and North-Eastern Districts of Southern Rhodesia 1958-1961, with descriptions of four new lizards. Occ. Pap. Nat. Mus. South. Rhodesia 26 (B): 787-843
  • Broadley, D.G. 1981. A review of the genus Pelusios Wagler in southern Africa (Pleurodira: Pelomedusidae). Occasional Papers of the National Museum of Rhodesia, B, Natural Science. 6 (9): 633-686. - get paper here
  • Buitelaar, Krijn & Philip de Pous 2011. First record of Pelusios castanoides intergularis and rediscovery of Pelusios subniger parietalis on Cousin Island, Seychelles. Herpetology Notes 4: 009-010 - get paper here
  • Duméril, A.M.C., and G. Bibron. 1835. Erpétologie Générale ou Histoire Naturelle Complète des Reptiles, Vol. 2. Librairie Encyclopédique de Roret, Paris, iv + 680 p. - get paper here
  • Ernst,C.H. and Barbour,R.W. 1989. Turtles of the World. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C. - London
  • Gehring, P.-S., F. M. Ratsoavina & M. Vences 2010. Filling the gaps – amphibian and reptile records from lowland rainforests in eastern Madagascar. Salamandra 46 (4): 214-234 - get paper here
  • Glaw ,F. & Vences, M. 1994. A Fieldguide to the Amphibians and Reptiles of Madagascar. Vences & Glaw Verlag, Köln (ISBN 3-929449-01-3)
  • Gotch, A. F. 1986. Reptiles - Their Latin Names Explained. Blndford Press, 176 pp.
  • Gray, J. E. 1863. On a Sternothaerus from Central Africa. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (3) 12: 405 - get paper here
  • Gray,J.E. 1864. On the species of the genus Sternothaerus, with some observations on Kinixys. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (3) 13: 165-170 - get paper here
  • Grychta, U. 1999. Pelusios subniger (Lacépède, 1788), der Dunkle Pelomedusenschildkröte - Ein Haltungs - und Zuchtbericht. Sauria 21 (4): 19-23 - get paper here
  • Herrmann, H.-W.; W.R. Branch 2013. Fifty years of herpetological research in the Namib Desert and Namibia with an updated and annotated species checklist. Journal of Arid Environments 93: 94–115 - get paper here
  • Hoffman, Dieter and Herman van der Bank 2001. Geographical Distribution. Pelusios subniger subniger (Lacépède, 1788). African Herp News (32):24 - get paper here
  • ICZN 2005. OPINION 2104 (Case 3226). Lacepède, B.G.É. de la V., 1788, Histoire Naturelle des Quadrupèdes Ovipares: rejected as a non-binominal work. Bull. Zool. Nomenclature 62 (1): 55 - get paper here
  • Iverson, J.B. 1992. A revised Checklist with Distribution Maps of the Turtles of the World. Richmond, Indiana, privately published, 363 pp.
  • Jacobsen, N.H.G. 1995. Geographical Distribution - Pelusios subniger subniger. African Herp News (23): 49-49 - get paper here
  • JACOBSEN, N.H.G. 2009. A contribution to the herpetofauna of the Passendro Area, Central African Republic. African Herp News (47): 2-20 - get paper here
  • Jacobsen, Niels H.G.; Errol W. Pietersen & Darren W. Pietersen 2010. A preliminary herpetological survey of the Vilanculos Coastal Wildlife Sanctuary on the San Sebastian Peninsula, Vilankulo, Mozambique. Herpetology Notes 3: 181-193
  • Joyce, Walter G.; James F. Parham , Tyler R. Lyson , Rachel C. M. Warnock and Philip C. J. Donoghue 2013. A Divergence Dating Analysis of Turtles Using Fossil Calibrations: An Example of Best Practices. Journal of Paleontology, 87(4):612-634 - get paper here
  • Lacépède, B. G. E. 1788. Histoire Naturelle des Quadrupe des Ovipares et des Serpens. Vol.1. Imprimerie du Roi, Hôtel de Thou, Paris, xvii + 651 pp. - get paper here
  • Laurent, R.F. 1956. Contribution à l'herpetologie de la région des Grandes Lacs de l'Afrique centrale. Ann. Mus. Roy. Congo Belge (Sci. Zool.), 48: 1-390
  • Lindholm W.A. 1929. Die wissenschaflichen Namen einiger Reptilien und Batrachier. Zoologischer Anzeiger, 85(3/4): 76–80
  • Loveridge, A. 1953. Zoological Results of a fifth expedition to East Africa. III. Reptiles from Nyasaland and Tete. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard 110 (3): 142-322. - get paper here
  • Mashinini, P.L.; Mahlangu, L.M. 2014. An annotated catalogue of the types of chelonians (Reptilia: Testudines) in the Herpetology collection of the Ditsong National Museum of Natural History, South Africa. Annals of the Ditsong National Museum of Natural History 4: - get paper here
  • McCord, W.P., Joseph-Ouni, M. & Bour, R. 2004. Chelonian Illustrations #17: Eastern and Southern African Mud Turtles. Reptilia (GB) (37): 73-77 - get paper here
  • Monard, ALBERT 1940. Résultats de la mission du Dr. Monard en Guinée Portugaise 1937 – 1938. Arq. Mus. Bocage, Lisbon 11: 147-182
  • Pawlowski, Sascha 2013. Habitatbeobachtungen der Dunklen Pelomedusenschildkröte Pelusios subniger parietalis Bour, 1983 an der Anse Intendance auf Mahé, Seychellen. Testudo. 22 (3): 5-14
  • Pietersen, Darren W. Pietersen, Errol W. Haacke, Wulf D. 2013. First herpetological appraisal of the Parque Nacional de Banhine, Gaza Province, southern Mozambique. Annals of the Ditsong National Museum of Natural History 3: 153-163 - get paper here
  • Pietersen, Darren, Verburgt, Luke & Davies, John 2021. Snakes and other reptiles of Zambia and Malawi. Struik Nature / Penguin Random House South Africa, 376 pp., ISBN 9781775847373
  • Savage, J.M. 2003. Lacepéde, B.G.É. de la V., 1788, Histoire Naturelle des Quadrupédes Ovipares: proposed rejection as a non-binomial work. Bull. Zool. Nomenclature 60 (2): 138 - get paper here
  • Schatti, B., & Loumont, C. 1992. [A contribution to the herpetofauna of Sao Tome (Gulf of Guinea) (Amphibia & Reptilia)]. Zool. Abhandl. Staatl. Mus. für Tierkunde, Dresden, 47: 23-36
  • Schwartz, A. & Henderson, R.W. 1991. Amphibians and Reptiles of the West Indies. University of Florida Press, Gainesville, 720 pp.
  • Shah, R. V. 1960. The mechanisms of carapacial and plastral hinges in Chelonians. Breviora (130): 1-15 - get paper here
  • Siebenrock, F. 1916. Schildkröten aus dem nördlichen Seengebiet und von Belgisch-Kongo. In: Wissenschaftliche Ergebnisse der Expedition R. Grauer nach Zentralafrika, Dezember 1909 bis Februar 1911. Annalen des K.K. Naturhistorischen Hofmuseums Wien 30: 1-12 - get paper here
  • Silva, Andreia; Rocha, Sara; Gerlach, Justin; Rocamora, Gérard; Dufrenne, André; Harris, David James 2010. Assessment of mtDNA genetic diversity within the terrapins Pelusios subniger and Pelusios castanoides across the Seychelles islands. Amphibia-Reptilia 31 (4): 583-588 - get paper here
  • Spawls, S.; Howell, K.; Drewes, R.C. & Ashe, J. 2002. A field guide to the reptiles of East Africa. Academic Press, 543 pp. [reviews in HR 34: 396 and Afr. J. Herp. 51; 147] - get paper here
  • Spawls, Steve; Kim Howell, Harald Hinkel, Michele Menegon 2018. Field Guide to East African Reptiles. Bloomsbury, 624 pp. - get paper here
  • Stejneger,L. 1902. Some generic names of turtles. Proc. Biol. Soc, Washington 15: 235-238 - get paper here
  • Sweeney, R. C. H. 1960. THE CHELONIA OF NYASALAND PROTECTORATE. The Nyasaland Journal 13 (1): 35-50 - get paper here
  • Tornier,G. 1897. Die Kriechthiere Deutsch-Ostafrikas. Beiträge zur Systematik und Descendenzlehre. D. Reimer, Berlin, 164 pp. - get paper here
  • TTWG [Peter Paul van Dijk, John B. Iverson, Anders G.J. Rhodin, H. Bradley Shaffer, and Roger Bour] 2014. Turtles of the World, 7th Edition: Annotated Checklist of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution with Maps, and Conservation Status. 000.v7. Chelonian Research Monographs (ISSN 1088-7105) No. 5, doi:10.3854/crm.5.000.checklist.v7.2014 - 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
 
External links  
Is it interesting? Share with others:

As link to this species use URL address:

https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Pelusios&species=subniger

without field 'search_param'. Field 'search_param' is used for browsing search result.



Please submit feedback about this entry to the curator