26 Curtis C. Bentley and James L. Knight 



Remarks: Pseudemys is a common genus of the Southeast, found in various 

 aquatic systems (Conant and Collins 1991). The two species found in South Car- 

 olina today are P. floridana and P. concinna. 



Testudinidae 

 Hesperotestudo crassiscutata -Giant Tortoise (Williams, 1950) 



Material: 9 carapacial and plastral fragments (.671-.677)(1 USNM)(1 UF); 1 

 right xiphiplastron (.678); 1 vertebra (.685); 1 ungual (.686); 6 osteoderms (.679- 

 .684). 



Characters used for identification: The fragmented shell elements were assigned 

 to this species rather than H. incisa on the basis of their extremely large size and 

 robustness (40.0 mm thick). The large osteoderms, phalange, and vertebra could 

 not be distinguished from H. crassiscutata in the Florida Museum of Natural 

 History. 



Remarks: Bramble (1971), Preston (1979), and Meylan (1995) place all North 

 American non-Gopherus tortoises into the genus Hesterotestudo, and that prac- 

 tice is followed here. Dobie and Jackson (1979), provided the first report of 

 (Geochelone) H. crassiscutata in South Carolina from the late Pleistocene of 

 Edisto Island. 



Trionychidae 

 Apalone sp.- Softshell turtle (Rafinesque, 1832) 



Material: 1 partial nuchal (.47); 1 costal distal end (.48); 1 partial neural (.49). 



Characters used for identification: These fossils are easily assigned to this genus, 

 based on the relatively thin shell elements with characteristic pitting of the dor- 

 sal surfaces, general morphology, and the geographical distribution of Triony- 

 chidae. However, based on these elements, we were unable to identify a species 

 with any certainty. 



Remarks: Two species of the genus Apalone now occur in South Carolina, A. 

 ferox and A. spinifera. Both species inhabit various aquatic environments with 

 muddy or sandy bottoms in deep or shallow water (Ernst and Barbour 1989). 

 Apalone ferox occurs throughout Florida and in the southern portions of Alaba- 

 ma, Georgia, and South Carolina. A. spinifera is restricted in Florida to rivers in 

 the extreme northeastern and northwestern portions, and ranges no farther north 

 along the Atlantic coast than North Carolina. It ranges westward into Colorado 

 and north into Minnesota, with isolated populations in Montana, California, and 



