TESTUDINES

Rivas, Gilson A., Molina, César R., Ugueto, Gabriel N., Barros, Tito R., Barrio-Amorós, César L. & Kok, Philippe J. R., 2012, 3211, Zootaxa 3211, pp. 1-64 : 36-37

Order TESTUDINES

Batrachemys / Mesoclemmys spp. — Bour and Zaher (2005) synonymised the genus Batrachemys as well as two recently described genera Ranacephala and Bufocephala with the genus Mesoclemmys . We follow the proposal of McCord et al. (2001) in considering these four genera distinct. Mesoclemmys thus becomes monotypic ( M. gibba ).

Chelus fimbriatus . —The presence of that species in the Maracaibo Lake Basin has long been controversial. The first mention of C. fimbriatus from the area is probably that in Pritchard and Trebbau (1984), who based the record on a personal communication and did not provide any voucher specimen. Rueda-Almonacid et al. (2007) “confirmed” the presence of an isolated population of this species in the Maracaibo Lake Basin—again without any voucher support—a report further mentioned by Pritchard (2008). It must be highlighted that the mention by Rueda-Almonacid et al. (2007) is also based on a personal communication. During the years 2004–2005, TB, GR and CBA conducted fieldwork in the area in search of C. fimbriatus . More than 50 localities were sampled and many interviews with local people were conducted. Although a few local people stated that the species occurs in the area, being very rarely seen, it was confirmed that no voucher specimen has ever been collected. It is possible that an isolated population inhabits the area, but a collected specimen is needed to confirm this. It should also be noted that Orinocoan turtle species are often kept in farms in the southern Maracaibo Lake area. In case of the discovery of C. fimbriatus specimens in the region, molecular analyses will be needed to determine the exact origin of the population(s) (which could have been imported from the Llanos).

Rhinoclemmys flammigera . — Gorzula and Señaris (1999) considered the subspecies R. punctularia flammigera ( Paolillo 1985) as a western extreme clinal variant or aberration of R. punctularia punctularia . Barrio-Amorós and Narbaiza (2008) elevated the subspecies R. p. flammigera to full species status based on head pattern and biogeography. Herein we recognize R. flammigera as a species.

Trachemys callirostris ssp. —Formerly known as subspecies of T. scripta , two forms of the Neotropical slider turtle inhabit Venezuela, T. c. callirostris and T. c. chichiriviche ( Seidel 2002). The subspecies have been differentiated using molecular data ( Jackson et al. 2008).