Rough-footed mud turtle
| Rough-footed mud turtle | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Testudines |
| Suborder: | Cryptodira |
| Family: | Kinosternidae |
| Genus: | Kinosternon |
| Species: | K. hirtipes
|
| Binomial name | |
| Kinosternon hirtipes (Wagler, 1830)
| |
| Synonyms[2] | |
|
Kinosternon hirtipes hirtipes
Kinosternon hirtipes chapalaense
Kinosternon hirtipes magdalense
Kinosternon hirtipes megacephalum
Kinosternon hirtipes murrayi
Kinosternon hirtipes tarascense
| |
The rough-footed mud turtle (Kinosternon hirtipes) [1] is a species of mud turtle in the family Kinosternidae. The species is native to the southwestern United States and adjacent northern Mexico.
Geographic range
Kinosternon hirtipes is found in the United States in Texas, and it is also found in Mexico in the Mexican states of Aguascalientes, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Mexico DF, Durango, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Mexico State, Michoacán, Morelos, and Zacatecas.
Diet
As an omnivore, the diet of Kinosternon hirtipes primarily consists of vegetation and insects including filamentous algae, seeds and fruits, aquatic, terrestrial, flying arthropods, as well as aquatic gastropods. K. hirtipes undergoes a dietary shift from insects to vegetation as body size increases which facilitates rapid growth. Although male K. hirtipes are larger in size than females, both sexes share a dietary overlap consuming similar foods.[3]
Predation
Based on tracks around kill sites, bite marks and shell damage it has been determined that the main predators of Kinosternon hirtipes are raccoons (Procyon lotor) and feral pigs (Sus scrofa). Not surprisingly, both raccoons and pigs are known to hunt several other species of turtle. K. hirtipes seems to be relatively "immune" to predation but are at the highest risk when coming out of the water to nest.[4]
Subspecies
Six subspecies of Kinosternon hirtipes are recognized as being valid, including the nominotypical subspecies.[5]
- Valley of Mexico mud turtle – Kinosternon hirtipes hirtipes (Wagler, 1830)
- Lake Chapala mud turtle – Kinosternon hirtipes chapalaense Iverson, 1981
- San Juanico mud turtle – Kinosternon hirtipes magdalense Iverson, 1981
- Viesca mud turtle – Kinosternon hirtipes megacephalum Iverson, 1981 (Extinct)
- Mexican Plateau mud turtle – Kinosternon hirtipes murrayi Glass & Hartweg, 1951
- Patzcuarco mud turtle – Kinosternon hirtipes tarascense Iverson, 1981
Gallery
- Kinosternon hirtipes murrayi
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Guanajuato
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Guanajuato
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Basking, Chihuahua
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Michoacán
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Hatchling, Chihuahua
Etymology
The subspecific name, murrayi, is in honor of American zoologist Leo Tildon Murray (1902–1958).[6]
References
- ^ a b van Dijk, P.P.; Hammerson, G.; Vazquez Diaz, J.; Quintero Diaz, G.E.; Santos, G.; Flores-Villela, O. (2016) [errata version of 2007 assessment]. "Kinosternon hirtipes". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2007 e.T63670A97381507. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2007.RLTS.T63670A12705290.en. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
- ^ Fritz, Uwe; Havaš, Peter (2007). "Checklist of Chelonians of the World". Vertebrate Zoology. 57 (2): 252–254. doi:10.3897/vz.57.e30895. ISSN 1864-5755. S2CID 87809001.
- ^ Platt, Steven G.; Berezin, Andrew R.; Miller, Dennis J.; Rainwater, Thomas R. (2016). "A Dietary Study of the Rough-footed Mud Turtle (Kinosternon hirtipes) in Texas, USA". Herpetological Conservation and Biology. 11: 142–149.
- ^ Platt, Steven G.; Smith, Jennifer L.; Rainwater, Thomas R.; Boeing, Wiebke J. (2019). "Notes on the Predation of Rough-Footed Mud Turtles (Kinosternon hirtipes) in West Texas, USA". Western North American Naturalist. 79 (1): 130–134. doi:10.3398/064.079.0113. S2CID 196650465.
- ^ Species Kinosternon hirtipes at The Reptile Database
- ^ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Kinosternon hirtipes murrayi, p. 185).
External links
- Glass, Bryan; Hartweg, Norman. "Kinosternon murrayi, a New Muskturtle of the hirtipes Group from Texas". Copeia. 1951 (1): 50–52. (Kinosternon murrayi, new species).
- Iverson, John B. (1981). "Biosystematics of the Kinosternon hirtipes species group (Testudines: Kinosternidae)". Tulane Studies in Zoology and Botany. 23: 1–74. (Kinosternon hirtipes chapalaense, new subspecies, pp. 51–52; K. h. megacephalum, new subspecies, p. 52; K. h. tarascense, new subspecies, pp. 52–53; K. h. magdalense, new subspecies, p. 53, Figure 28).
- Wagler J (1830). Natürliches System der Amphibien, mit vorangehender Classification der Säugthiere und Vögel. Ein Beitrag zur vergleichenden Zoologie. Munich: J.G. Cotta. vi + 354 pp. (Cinosternon [sic] hirtipes, new species, p. 137). (in German and Latin). [1].