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Fig. 3. Live Asian softshell turtles from the Great Sunda Islands.
Note in (A), (D) and (E) the saddle-shaped dark mark on the carapace. (A) Amyda species (candidate species A?), juvenile, Loagan Bunut National Park, Sarawak, Malaysia (Borneo). Photo: Indraneil Das. (B) Amyda cartilaginea cartilaginea (terminal clade 2), West Java, Indonesia (trade specimen). Yellow-spotted form of van Dijk (1992). Photo: Mark Auliya. (C) Amyda species (not studied genetically). Rantauprapat, Sumatera Utara, Indonesia (northern Sumatra). Yellowspotted form of van Dijk (1992). Photo: Maren Gaulke. (D) Amyda cartilaginea maculosa subsp. nov. (terminal clade 3), Balai Ringin, near Serian, Sarawak, Malaysia (Borneo). Photo: Indraneil Das. (E) Amyda cartilaginea maculosa subsp. nov. (terminal clade 3), juvenile, Tanjung Lasa, Kapuas Hulu, West Kalimantan, Indonesia (Borneo). Note the different facial pattern compared to (A). Photo: Mark Auliya.
Fig. 4. Live Asian softshell turtles from Mainland Southeast Asia.
(A) Amyda ornata ornata (terminal clade 6), southern Vietnam or Cambodia. Arrow-headed form of van Dijk (1992). Note the smooth rear carapace. Photo: Timothy McCormack. (B, C) Amyda ornata phayrei (terminal clade 5), Thailand. Note the different head colouration compared to A. o. ornata and the pronounced shell tubercles. Photos: Peter Praschag. (D, E) Amyda ornata subspecies (terminal clade 4), Chittagong Hills, Bangladesh. Note the pale shell colouration, the indistinct head pattern and the pronounced shell tubercles. Photos: Peter Praschag. |
Abstract
Using up to 2456 bp mtDNA and up to 2716 bp nDNA of fresh samples and short sequences of three mitochondrial genes of historical museum material, we examine the phylogeography of Amyda cartilaginea. This data set provides evidence for the existence of deeply divergent genetic lineages which we interpret as three distinct species, two of which are polytypic. On the Great Sunda Islands, the distribution ranges of the two subspecies of Amyda cartilaginea (Boddaert, 1770) sensu stricto and of an undescribed species match palaeodrainage systems. Amyda cartilaginea cartilaginea occurs in the East Sunda palaeodrainage, with records in eastern Borneo and Java. Also a record from Sulawesi, most probably not representing a native population, refers to A. c. cartilaginea. In the North Sunda palaeodrainage (Sumatra, western Borneo) lives Amyda cartilaginea maculosa subsp. nov., which is described herein. One sample from the Baram river (Sarawak, Malaysia) is genetically highly distinct and represents a new species. We refrain from naming this taxon until more material becomes available for morphological characterization. For the continental populations, we resurrect the species Amyda ornata (Gray, 1861). We identify Asian softshell turtles from the Mekong drainage with the nominotypical subspecies, while the genetically distinct populations from Thailand and Myanmar are assigned to Amyda ornata phayrei (Theobald, 1868). Samples from Bangladesh are also genetically distinct and represent an undescribed subspecies and the first country record for Amyda.
Key words: Amyda cartilaginea cartilaginea; Amyda cartilaginea maculosa subsp. nov.; Amyda ornata ornata; Amyda ornata phayrei; Great Sunda Islands; Southeast Asia, Subspecies; Taxonomy; Testudines; Trionychidae.
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| Fig. 3. Live Asian softshell turtles from the Great Sunda Islands.
Note in (A), (D) and (E) the saddle-shaped dark mark on the carapace.
(A) Amyda species (candidate species A?), juvenile, Loagan Bunut National Park, Sarawak, Malaysia (Borneo). Photo: Indraneil Das. (B) Amyda cartilaginea cartilaginea (terminal clade 2), West Java, Indonesia (trade specimen). Yellow-spotted form of van Dijk (1992). Photo: Mark Auliya. (C) Amyda species (not studied genetically). Rantauprapat, Sumatera Utara, Indonesia (northern Sumatra). Yellowspotted form of van Dijk (1992). Photo: Maren Gaulke. (D) Amyda cartilaginea maculosa subsp. nov. (terminal clade 3), Balai Ringin, near Serian, Sarawak, Malaysia (Borneo). Photo: Indraneil Das. (E) Amyda cartilaginea maculosa subsp. nov. (terminal clade 3), juvenile, Tanjung Lasa, Kapuas Hulu, West Kalimantan, Indonesia (Borneo). Note the different facial pattern compared to (A). Photo: Mark Auliya. |
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| Fig. 4. Live Asian softshell turtles from Mainland Southeast Asia. (A) Amyda ornata ornata (terminal clade 6), southern Vietnam or Cambodia. Arrow-headed form of van Dijk (1992). Note the smooth rear carapace. Photo: Timothy McCormack. (B, C) ตะพาบน้ำ | Amyda ornata phayrei (terminal clade 5), Thailand. Note the different head colouration compared to A. o. ornata and the pronounced shell tubercles. Photos: Peter Praschag. (D, E) Amyda ornata subspecies (terminal clade 4), Chittagong Hills, Bangladesh. Note the pale shell colouration, the indistinct head pattern and the pronounced shell tubercles. Photos: Peter Praschag. |
Uwe Fritz, Richard Gemel, Christian Kehlmaier, Melita Vamberger and Peter Praschag. 2014. Phylogeography of the Asian Softshell Turtle Amyda cartilaginea (Boddaert, 1770): Evidence for A Species Complex. Vertebrate Zoology. 64(2): 229–243.
