Ranacephala hogei (MERTENS, 1967)
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Ranacephala hogei
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| Higher Taxa | Chelidae, Chelinae, Pleurodira, Testudines (turtles) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Hoge’s Toadhead Turtle, Hoge’s Side-necked Turtle G: Hoges Krötenkopfschildkröte Portuguese: Cágado, Cágado-de-Hoge, Cágado-de-Hogei, Cágado-do-Paraíba, Cágado-do-Paraíba-do-Sul |
| Synonym | Phrynops hogei MERTENS 1967 Phrynops hogei — ERNST & BARBOUR 1989 Ranacephala hogei — MCCORD et al. 2001 Ranacephala hogei — MCCORD & JOSEPH-OUNI 2002 Ranacephala hogei — SOUZA 2004 Phrynops hogei — ROCHA et al. 2004 Mesoclemmys hogei — BOUR & ZAHER 2005 Ranacephala (Phrynops) hogei — BONIN et al 2006 Mesoclemmys hogei — VAN DIJK et al. 2011 Phrynops (Mesoclemmys) hogei — PHILIPPEN 2012 Ranacephala hogei — TTWG 2021 |
| Distribution | Brazil (Rio de Janeiro, Minas Merais: Rio Paraiba drainage, S Espirito Santo: Rio Itapemirim) Type locality: "Rio Pequena, sudwestlich von Sao Paulo, Brasilien". |
| Reproduction | |
| Types | Holotype: SMF 62530. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis (genus Ranacephala). A toadhead turtle of the family Chelidae distinguished by having a distinct bicolor head (as in B. nasuta); a relatively small head (as in M. gibba); a pointed snout (as in all toadheads but the P. geoffroanus complex); large barbels (most similar to P. geoffivanus); wide parietal roof width in adults (as in M. gibba and P. geoffroanus); intergular seute narrower than gulars (as in P. geoffroanus, B. tuberculata, and B. heliostemma); interabdominal seam (of plastral seam formula) longest (unique to R. hogei); carapace domed (as in R. rufipes and M gibba); the lack of a vertebral keel (as in all toadheads but R. rufipes and M. gibba); carapacial median groove present in mature adults (as in all toadheads but R. rufipes and M. gibba); 11th marginal narrower than 12th (as in R. rufipes, M. gibba and B. vanderhaegei); the antero-medial distal tibial scale is well developed, (as in B. zuliae, B. raniceps, B. tuberculata, B. nasuta and B. heliostemma); the lateral marginals upturned (as with all toadheads but R. rufipes and P. geoffroanus, but with Ranacephala the upturn is "sharp" as in M. gibba, B. vanderhaegei, B. dahli, B. zuliae, and B. tuberculata); and plastron solid yellow (as in R. rufipes, B. dahli and B. zuliae). The chelid foramen is thought to be present, but this is not confirmed (R. Bour pers. comm.). Data on the neural series are unconfimed at this time due to lack of skeletonized specimens (McCord et al. 2001). |
| Comment | For a color illustration and distribution map see MCCORD & JOSEPH-OUNI 2002. Habitat: freshwater (rivers, swamps) Type species: Phrynops hogei MERTENS 1967 is the type species of the genus Ranacephala MCCORD et al. 2001. |
| Etymology | Named after Dr. Alphonse Richard Hoge (1912-1982), a Brazilian-born Belgian herpetologist. Soon after his birth, the family returned to Belgium (1913). However, he returned to Brazil and joined Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, Brazil (1946), and was Director of the Biology Departtnent (1969-1982). The genus was named after Latin Rana = frog, and Greek kephale = head. |
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