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Staurotypus triporcatus (WIEGMANN, 1828)

IUCN Red List - Staurotypus triporcatus - Least Concern, LR
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Higher TaxaKinosternidae, Staurotypinae, Kinosternoidea, Testudines (turtles)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Mexican Giant Musk Turtle
S: Guao 
SynonymTerrapene triporcata WIEGMANN 1828
Staurotypus triporcatus — WAGLER 1830
Staurotypus Triporcatus — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1835: 356
Staurotypus triporcatus — GRAY 1864: 451
Claudius pictus COPE 1872: 26
Staurotypus triporcatus — GÜNTHER 1885: 11
Staurotypus triporcatus — BOULENGER 1889
Staurotypus triporcatus — LINER 1994
Staurotypus triporcatus — KÖHLER 2000: 28
Staurotypus triporcatus — RHODIN et al. 2010
Staurotypus triporcatus — MCCRANIE 2018
Staurotypus triporcatus — TTWG 2021 
DistributionMexico (Gulf and Caribbean drainages of C/S Veracruz, Tamaulipas, Tabasco, Chiapas, Campeche, Oaxaca, Quintana Roo), Belize, NE Guatemala, W Honduras

Type locality: "Rio Alvarado," Veracruz, Mexico.  
Reproductionoviparous. 
TypesHolotype: ZMB 127. 
Diagnosis 
CommentType species: Terrapene triporcata WIEGMANN 1828 is the type species of the genus Staurotypus WAGLER 1830: 137.

Habitat: freshwater (lakes, quiet rivers)

Distribution: not in Yucatan state (Mexico), fide Gonzalez-Sanchez et al. 2017.

Key to the species of Staurotypus: Ernst & Barbour 1989: 70.

Karyotype: Staurotypus is unique among kinosternids in that males of its two species, S. salvinii and S. triporcatus, possess sex chromosomes (Moon, 1974; Bull, Moon, and Legler, 1974; Sites, Bickham, and Haiduk, 1979). Males are heteromorphic (heterogametic, XY) while females are homomorphic (homogametic, XX). Moon (1974) and Bull, Moon, and Legler (1974) found that males have a single subtelocentric chromosome (X), bearing a secondary constriction in the long arm, which is the fourth largest and is homologous to one (Y) of three smaller telocentric chromosomes (Sites, Bickham, and Haiduk, 1979, reported the Y chromosome is acrocentric). Karyotypes of the females of both species possess two subtelocentric and two telocentric chromosomes. It is not known if the male's heteromorphic chromosomes actually influence sex determination, but they are definitely sex related since they do not occur in females. Sites, Bickham, and Haiduk (1979) conducted various staining and band-pattern determination studies on these chromosomes in S. salvinii, and concluded that, unlike previously described systems in most other vertebrates in which the Y or W is derived and the homomorphic sex represents the primitive condition, the opposite is true for S. salvinii. The X chromosome is derived, so the homomorphic female is more derived than the heteromorphic male. The male is actually intermediate between the female and the ancestral condition of other turtles. The 2n chromosome number is 54: S. salvinii has 24 macrochromosomes and 30 microchromosomes, S. triporcatus has 26 macrochromosomes and 28 microchromosomes (Moon, 1974; Killebrew, 1975b; Sites, Bickham, and Haiduk, 1979, Ernst & Barbour 1989). 
EtymologyThe name Staurotypus is derived from the Greek words stauros (cross) and typos (figure, impression, model, shape). The name alludes to the slightly cruciform and relatively small plastron (Wagler, 1830).

The name triporcatus is formed from the Latin tri (thrice), porca (ridge between two furrows), and -atus (provided with, having the nature of, pertaining to). The name alludes to 3 high ridges on the carapace of this species (McCranie 2018: 501). 
References
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