The Pearl River map turtle (Graptemys pearlensis) is a species of emydid turtle native to the southern United States. According to a study done in January 2017, the species G. pearlensis was significantly less abundant in the Pearl River region as compared to G. oculifera and exhibited a smaller number of reproductively mature females. Further, this study highlighted statistical and observational evidence that this species exhibited female-biased, sexual dimorphism.[4]
| Pearl River map turtle | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Testudines |
| Suborder: | Cryptodira |
| Superfamily: | Testudinoidea |
| Family: | Emydidae |
| Genus: | Graptemys |
| Species: | G. pearlensis
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| Binomial name | |
| Graptemys pearlensis Ennen et al., 2010[3]
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| Combined range map of Pearl River map turtle (western blue section) and Pascagoula map turtle (eastern blue section) | |
Geographic range
editIt is endemic to the Pearl River in Louisiana and Mississippi.[3] The ringed map turtle (G. oculifera) is also endemic to the Pearl River.
Taxonomy
editUntil 2010, it was included in the Pascagoula map turtle (G. gibbonsi), which it resembles.[3] In 2010 Ennen and his colleagues described Graptemys pearlensis as a new species. They used sequence variation of the mitochondrial control region along with the ND4 gene and found out three samples of Graptemys pearlensis constituting reciprocally monophyletic sister clades.[5]
Conservation
editIn 2024, the Pearl River map turtle was listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Basking survey data suggest that fewer than 22,000 individuals existed in the wild in 2020, with low or moderate resiliency estimates in all portions of the turtle's range.[6]: 57221 The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) assessed that the Pearl River map turtle is threatened by habitat loss and degradation, take for collection and climate change. The construction of the Ross Barnett Reservoir between 1960 and 1963 rendered a portion of the Pearl River unsuitable for occupancy by the lotic species. On the basis of similarity of appearance to Graptemys pearlensis, the USFWS also listed the macrocephalic Graptemys species G. pulchra, G. barbouri, G. ernsti and G. gibbonsi as threatened.[6]
References
edit- ^ van Dijk, P.P. (2016) [errata version of 2011 assessment]. "Graptemys pearlensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2011: e.T184437A97423604. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
- ^ "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 2023-03-01.
- ^ a b c Ennen, Joshua R.; Lovich, Jeffrey E.; Kreiser, Brian R.; Selman, W.; Qualls, Carl P. (2010). "Genetic and morphological variation between populations of the Pascagoula map turtle (Graptemys gibbonsi) in the Pearl and Pascagoula Rivers with description of a new species". Chelonian Conservation and Biology. 9 (1): 98–113. doi:10.2744/CCB-0835.1. S2CID 49358338.
- ^ Selman, Will; Jones, Robert L. (January 2017). "Population structure, status, and conservation of two Graptemys species from the Pearl River, Mississippi". Journal of Herpetology. 51 (1): 27–36. doi:10.1670/15-082. ISSN 0022-1511. S2CID 89108416.
- ^ Praschag, Peter; Ihlow, Flora; Flecks, Morris; Vamberger, Melita; Fritz, Uwe (2017). "Diversity of North American map and sawback turtles (Testudines: Emydidae: Graptemys)". Zoologica Scripta. 46 (6): 675–682. doi:10.1111/zsc.12249. S2CID 89635583.
- ^ a b Fish and Wildlife Species Assessment Team; Mississippi Ecological Services Field Office (12 July 2024). "Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Threatened Species Status for Pearl River Map Turtle With Section 4(d) Rule; and Threatened Species Status for Alabama Map Turtle, Barbour's Map Turtle, Escambia Map Turtle, and Pascagoula Map Turtle Due to Similarity of Appearance with Section 4(d) Rule". Federal Register. 89 (134): 57206–57236. 89 FR 57206
External links
edit- Graptemys pearlensis at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 14 April 2013.
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