A new species of Pelodiscus from northeastern Indochina (Testudines, Trionychidae)

By

Farkas, Balázs
Ziegler, Thomas, 1970-
Pham, Cuong The
Ong, An Vinh
Fritz, Uwe

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2019

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

824

Pages

71-86

Subjects

China , Genetics , Morphology , softshell turtles , Vietnam

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.824.31376

 

Abstract

A new, critically endangered species of softshell turtle, Pelodiscusvariegatussp. n. is described from north-central Vietnam and Hainan Island, China, distinguished by a unique set of genetic and morphological traits from all other congeners (P.axenaria, P.maackii, P.parviformis, P.sinensis, and unnamed genetic lineages). Morphologically, P.variegatus is characterized, among others, by its strong ventral ornamentation in all age classes.