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Issue: Vol. 2233 No. 1: 16 Sep. 2009
Type: Articles
Published: 2009-09-16
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.2233.1.3
Page range: 57–68
Abstract views: 127
PDF downloaded: 91

A new subspecies of Batagur affinis (Cantor, 1847), one of the world’s most critically endangered chelonians (Testudines: Geoemydidae)

The Turtle Conservancy, Behler Chelonian Institute, P.O. Box 1289, Ojai, CA 93024, USA
Institute of Applied Ecology, Research Group, University of Canberra, Canberra 2601, Australia
Institute of Applied Ecology, Research Group, University of Canberra, Canberra 2601, Australia
Museum of Zoology, Senckenberg Dresden, A.B. Meyer Building, D-01109 Dresden, Germany
Museum of Zoology, Senckenberg Dresden, A.B. Meyer Building, D-01109 Dresden, Germany
Museum of Zoology, Senckenberg Dresden, A.B. Meyer Building, D-01109 Dresden, Germany
Reptilia Southeast Asia South Asia Batagur affinis affinis Batagur affinis edwardmolli subsp. nov. Batagur baska Batagur kachuga endangered species

Abstract

Estuarine Batagur are among the most critically endangered chelonian species. We assess the taxonomic status of the recently discovered Cambodian relic population of Batagur by phylogenetic analyses of three mitochondrial (2096 bp) and three nuclear DNA fragments (1909 bp) using sequences from all other Batagur species and selected allied geoemydids. Furthermore, we calculated haplotype networks of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene for Cambodian terrapins, B. affinis, B. baska, and B. kachuga and compare external morphology of estuarine Batagur populations. Genetically, Cambodian Batagur are closely related with, but distinct from B. affinis from Sumatra and the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Morphologically, Cambodian Batagur resemble the distinctive B. affinis populations from the eastern Malay Peninsula that were not available for genetic study. We suggest that the Batagur populations from the eastern Malay Peninsula and Cambodia represent a new subspecies of B. affinis that once was distributed in estuaries surrounding the Gulf of Thailand (Batagur affinis edwardmolli subsp. nov.). Its patchy extant distribution is most probably the result of large-scale habitat alteration and century-long overexploitation. In addition, our phylogenetic analyses suggest repeated switches between riverine and estuarine habitats during the evolution of the extant Batagur species.

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