Mashona Hinged Terrapin
Pelusios rhodesianusSummary 1
The Variable mud turtle (Pelusios rhodesianus) is a species of turtle in the Pelomedusidae family. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Diagnosis 2
The head shield is a series of well developed scales. The plastron color pattern is usually black with irregular yellow patches mesially, sometimes uniform yellow (2 Zimbabwean specimens) or uniform black. The carapace is colored uniform black. Northern populations (Zaire, northern Angola, Zambia and Malawi) - have head patterns with brown/yellow vermiculation. Southern populations (southern Angola and Zambia, south to Natal) - the head pattern is uniform brown, becoming yellow laterally. The skin is pale yellow, outer surfaces of the limbs grey-brown.[1]
Conservation 2
Listed under CITES Appendix II. Conservation of its wetland habitat is needed.[2]
Sources and Credits 2
- Broadley 1981 "A review of the genus pelusios Wagler in southern africa"
BATES, M.F., BRANCH, W.R., BAUER, A.M., BURGER, M., MARAIS, J., ALEXANDER, G.J. & DE VILLIERS, M.S. (eds). 2014 (reprint 2014). Atlas and Red List of the Reptiles of South Africa, Lesotho, and Swaziland.
Suricata 1. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria.
Sources and Credits
- Adapted by calebcam from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelusios_rhodesianus
- (c) calebcam, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
