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Pelomedusa somalica PETZOLD, VARGAS-RAMÍREZ, KEHLMAIER, VAMBERGER, BRANCH, DU PREEZ, HOFMEYR, MEYER, SCHLEICHER, ŠIROKÝ & FRITZ, 2014

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Higher TaxaPelomedusidae, Pelomedusoidea, Pleurodira, Testudines (turtles)
Subspecies 
Common Names 
SynonymPelomedusa somalica PETZOLD, VARGAS-RAMÍREZ, KEHLMAIER, VAMBERGER, BRANCH, DU PREEZ, HOFMEYR, MEYER, SCHLEICHER, ŠIROKÝ & FRITZ 2014
Pelomedusa subrufa — LANZA 1966
Pelomedusa somalica — TTWG 2017: 205
Pelomedusa somalica — TTWG 2021 
DistributionSomalia

Type locality: Borama district, Awdal, Somaliland/Somalia, N9°55 E43°10, 4500 ft  
Reproduction 
TypesHolotype: BMNH 1970.1481, field number 502, adult Paratypes: The Natural History Museum, London (BMNH 1931.7.20.412–414, juvenile and two shells of adults with heads in alcohol, Buran, Sanaag, Somaliland/Somalia; BMNH 1931.8.1.177, juvenile, Ceerigaabo, Sanaag, Somaliland/Somalia); Naturhistorisches Museum Wien (NMW 24449, juvenile, Abyssinia). Both specimens listed as Pelomedusa subrufa non type in BMNH as of March 2019. 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: Small to medium-sized, light-coloured helmeted terrapins with a known maximum straight carapacial length of 15.7 cm. Pectoral scutes triangular to rectangular with wide or, rarely, narrow midseam contact. One large undivided temporal scale on each side of head. Two small barbels under chin. In adults, plastron completely yellow; soft parts ventrally lighter than dorsally. Pelomedusa somalica differs from all other Pelomedusa species by the presence of thymine (T) instead of adenine (A), cytosine (C) or a gap at position 122 of the 360-bp-long reference alignment of the 12S rRNA gene (Supporting Information). 
CommentDistribution: Map: Petzold et al. 2014 
EtymologyNamed after the range. 
References
  • Bour, R. 2008. Global diversity of turtles (Chelonii; Reptilia) in freshwater. Hydrobiologia 595:593–598 - get paper here
  • Fritz, U., T. Mazuch, A. Petzold & H. Prokop 2015. Coloration and pattern of hatchlings of six Pelomedusa species. Salamandra 51 (3): 277-282 - get paper here
  • Fritz, U., Tolley, K. A., Vamberger, M., & Ihlow, F. 2022. Phylogeny and phylogeography of chelonians from sub-Saharan Africa—A review of current knowledge in tribute to Margaretha D. Hofmeyr. Vertebrate Zoology, 72: 951-969 - get paper here
  • Gemel, R.; G. Gassner & S. Schweiger 2019. Katalog der Typen der Herpetologischen Sammlung des Naturhistorischen Museums Wien – 2018. Ann. Naturhist. Mus. Wien, B 121: 33–248
  • Lanza, B., and A. Sassi 1966. Le testuggini terrestri e d’acqua dolce della Somalia (Reptilia Testudines). Monitore Zoologico Italiano, 2 (supplemento): 257-272 - get paper here
  • PETZOLD, ALICE; MARIO VARGAS-RAMÍREZ, CHRISTIAN KEHLMAIER, MELITA VAMBERGER, WILLIAM R. BRANCH, LOUIS DU PREEZ, MARGARETHA D. HOFMEYR, LEON MEYER, ALFRED SCHLEICHER, PAVEL ŠIROKÝ & UWE FRITZ 2014. A revision of African helmeted terrapins (Testudines: Pelomedusidae: Pelomedusa), with descriptions of six new species. Zootaxa 3795 (5): 523–548 - get paper here
  • Spawls, Stephen; Tomáš Mazuch & Abubakr Mohammad 2023. Handbook of Amphibians and Reptiles of North-east Africa. Bloomsbury, 640 pp. - get paper here
  • TTWG; Anders G.J. Rhodin, John B. iverson, Roger Bour, Uwe Fritz, Arthur GeoRges, H. BRadley Shaffer, and Peter Paul van Dijk 2017. Turtles of the World: Annotated Checklist and Atlas of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution, and Conservation Status (8th Ed.). In: Rhodin, A.G.J., Iverson, J.B., van Dijk, P.P., Saumure, R.A., Buhlmann, K.A., Pritchard, P.C.H., and Mittermeier, R.A. (Ed Chelonian Research Monographs 7:1–292. doi: 10.3854/crm.7.checklist.atlas.v8.2017 - 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
 
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