Sternotherus intermedius SCOTT, GLENN & RISSLER, 2017
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Higher Taxa | Kinosternidae (Kinosterninae), Kinosternoidea, Testudines (turtles) |
Subspecies | |
Common Names | E: Intermediate Musk Turtle |
Synonym | Sternotherus intermedius SCOTT, GLENN & RISSLER 2017 Sternotherus intermedius — TTWG 2021 |
Distribution | USA (S Alabama, NW Florida) Type locality: Blackwater River ca. 1 mi NW of Milton airfield (now Peter Prince Field), Santa Rosa Co. FL. This series was collected by H. Harima, J.D. Williams and Dr. J. L. Wolfe. |
Reproduction | |
Types | Holotype: UAHC68-814, male |
Diagnosis | Diagnosis (intermedius): Corresponds to the S. intermedius lineage (Figs. 2.4 & 2.7). This clade is geographically cohesive containing the greater Choctawhatchee and Escambia River drainages in southern Alabama and the Florida panhandle. Morphologically, S. intermedius has a dark spotted head on a light background with some degree of striping on the lateral faces of the neck; a single or paired gular scutes are present; a vertebral keel is present with lateral keels reduced or possibly lacking in some populations. |
Comment | See also entry and literature of S. minor. Habitat: freshwater (swamps, quiet rivers) Publication date: the description of S. intermedius was published in 2017, although the final (print) version says 2018. The validity of S. intermedius is doubtful, as it is a vaguely diagnosable “hybrid” population of S. minor minor and S. minor peltifer. It may be more appropriate to retain the subspecies structure of S. minor and classify them as a subspecies (together with S. depressus, which also nests within the minor complex). Distribution: see map in Scott et al. 2017: Fig. 2. |
Etymology | S. intermedius has been named after medieval Latin intermediātus, past participle of intermediāre. This species is named for its long recognition as being a hypothetical “intermediate” form between S. peltifer and S. minor (e.g. Ernst et al., 1988), as turtles now attributed to S. intermedius have historically been recognized as hybrids between the two aforementioned species due to having a superficially intermediate morphology. |
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