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Mesoclemmys raniceps GRAY, 1856

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Higher TaxaChelidae, Chelinae, Pleurodira, Testudines (turtles)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Black-lined Toadhead Turtle
Portuguese: Cágado, Cágado-de-Cabeça-de-Sapo-Comum, Lalá
E: Amazon Toadhead Turtle [heliostemma]
Portuguese: Cágado, Perema-da-Cabeça-Amarela [heliostemma] 
SynonymHydraspis raniceps GRAY 1856
Phrynops wermuthi MERTENS 1969
Phrynops (Batrachemys) nasutus wermuthi — ALDERTON 1988
Phrynops raniceps — IVERSON 1992
Batrachemys raniceps — MCCORD et al. 2001
Batrachemys heliostemma MCCORD, JOSEPH-OUNI & LAMAR 2001
Batrachemys heliostemma — MCCORD & JOSEPH-OUNI 2002
Batrachemys raniceps — MCCORD & JOSEPH-OUNI 2002
Batrachemys raniceps — SOUZA 2004
Batrachemys heliostemma — SOUZA 2004
Mesoclemmys heliostemma — BOUR & ZAHER 2005
Mesoclemmys raniceps — BOUR & ZAHER 2005
Batrachemys (Phrynops) raniceps — BONIN et al 2006
Batrachemys heliostemma — CISNEROS-HEREDIA 2006
Batrachemys heliostemma — REYNOLDS et al. 2007
Mesoclemmys heliostemma — VAN DIJK et al. 2011
Mesoclemmys raniceps — VAN DIJK et al. 2011
Batrachemys raniceps — RIVAS et al. 2012
Mesoclemmys gibba — BRITO et al. 2012
Phrynops (Batrachemys) raniceps — PHILIPPEN 2012
Batrachemys heliostemma — RIVAS et al. 2012
Mesoclemmys heliostemma — MOLINA et al. 2012
Phrynops (Batrachemys) heliostemma — PHILIPPEN 2012
Mesoclemmys raniceps — TTWG 2021
Mesoclemmys jurutiensis CUNHA, SAMPAIO, CARNEIRO & VOGT 2021 
DistributionSE Colombia, E Peru, N Bolivia, Brazil (Amazon basin, Mato Grosso, Amazonas, Pará, Rondônia), Ecuador (Amazonia, Sucumbíos, Orellana).

wermuthi: Peru; Type locality: “Amazonian Peru”.

Type locality: “Brazil, Para”.

heliostemma: Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil (Roraima, Amazonas, Pará, Mato Grosso, Rondônia, Acre); Type locality: base of Pico da Neblina (situated on the Venezuela/Brazil border) on the left bank of Río Baria (=Río Mawarinuma) (4° 95’ N, 66° 10’ W), a tributary of the Rio Negro, Amazonas, Venezuela.

jurutiensis: Brazil (Western Amazon, Pará); Type locality: Capiranga Community, Juruti-Velho Village, in Juruti municipality, State of Pará, Brazil (WGS84, 02036’16.20’’ S, 56024’40.80’’ W; 90 m elevvation).  
Reproductionoviparous. There are still no studies or published works on the reproduction of Mesoclemmys jurutiensis. However, a chick was found about 1 year old, which leads us to believe that the chicks hatch from the eggs during the months of March and April (Cunha, pers. obs.) 
TypesLectotype: BMNH 1947.3.5.92, formerly NHM 51.8.12.1; Bates collection, (designated by Bour & Pauler 1987).
Holotype: USNM 541895 [heliostemma]
Holotype: INPA-H41283 (Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia), adult male (CL 179.0mm), collector: Fábio Andrew Gomes Cunha, 26 January 2019. Paratypes: INPA-H41284, INPA-H41285, INPA-H41286, INPA-H41381, INPA-H41379 [jurutiensis] 
DiagnosisAdditional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (8044 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentFor a color illustration and distribution map see MCCORD & JOSEPH-OUNI 2002.

Distribution: the report of M. raniceps from Peru (FERRONATO et al. 2011) is actually based on a misidentified M. gibba [see erratum to this paper]. Not in Venezuela fide Rivas et al. 2015.

Habitat: freshwater (rivers, swamps)

Synonymy: P. wermuthi has been synonymized with Phrynops raniceps by Bour & Pauler 1987. Cunha et al. 2019 found that eggs of M. raniceps produced offspring that look like raniceps and heliostemma, proving that both are color morphs of the same species. However, neither raniceps nor heliostemma were included in the phylogenetic analysis of Thomson et al. 2021. Mesoclemmys jurutiensis was synonymized with raniceps by Gallego-García et al. 2023.

Diet (jurutiensis): Tadpoles were flushed from the stomachs of an adult female (3 mL) and a juvenile (1.9 mL) Mesoclemmys jurutiensis (Cunha et al. 2021).

NCBI taxonID: 2866224 [jurutiensis] 
EtymologyNamed after Latin rana = frog, and Latin caput, short -ceps = head, for the head that is somewhat reminiscent of a frog or toad head. 
References
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