Macrochelys
Macrochelys Temporal range:
| |
---|---|
Alligator snapping turtle (Macrochelys temminckii) | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Order: | Testudines |
Suborder: | Cryptodira |
Family: | Chelydridae |
Genus: | Macrochelys Gray, 1856[1] |
Type species | |
Macrochelys temminckii
, 1835 |
Macrochelys is a
Extant species
Traditionally, only a single extant species (M. temminckii) was recognized, but following reviews, two species are now recognized:[3][4] Anatomical differences between the two species of Macrochelys include the shape of the caudal notch at the rear of the carapace and the angle of the squamosal bone at the rear of the skull.[5] The two species are estimated to have diverged less than 3.5 million years ago. [5]
- Macrochelys suwanniensis Thomas et al., 2014 – Suwannee snapping turtle
- Macrochelys temminckii (Troost, 1835) – alligator snapping turtle
A third species has been proposed,
- Macrochelys apalachicolae Thomas et al., 2014 – Apalachicola snapping turtle
Fossil history and extinct species
Unlike the family Chelydridae as a whole, the genus Macrochelys is exclusively North American. Hutchison (2008) considered the genus Chelydrops to be a junior synonym of Macrochelys, and recombined its type species, Chelydrops stricta from the Miocene (Early Barstovian) of Nebraska, as the (then) fourth species of Macrochelys.[8]
There are two other species known only from fossil remains:
- †Macrochelys auffenbergi Dobie, 1968 (from the Middle Pliocene of Florida)
- †Macrochelys schmidti (from the Early Middle Miocene of Nebraska)
References
- ISBN 978-0965354097. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2013-06-16.
- ^ John R. Platt (April 17, 2014). "Alligator Snapping Turtles, the Dinosaurs of the Turtle World, Are Actually 3 at-Risk Species". Scientific American.
- ^ a b Reptile Database: Macrochelys. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
- ^ .
- ^ a b c Thomas, T., Granatosky, M. Bourque, J., Krysko, K., Moler, P., Gamble, T., Suarez, E., Leone, E., Enge, K. & Roman, J. (2014). "Taxonomic assessment of Alligator Snapping Turtles (Chelydridae: Macrochelys), with the description of two new species from the southeastern United States." Zootaxa 3786(2): 141–165.
- ^ Joshua E. Brown (April 24, 2014). "Research splits alligator snapping turtle, 'dinosaur of the turtle world,' into three species". Phys.org.
- ^ Folt, B.; and C. Guyer (2015). "Evaluating recent taxonomic changes for alligator snapping turtles (Testudines: Chelydridae)." Zootaxa 3947(3): 447–450.
- ^ J. Howard Hutchison (2008). "History of fossil Chelydridae". In A.C. Styermark; M.S. Finkler; R.J. Brooks (eds.). Biology of the Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 14–30.