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Publications (68)
This is our 9th edition of an annotated checklist and atlas of all recognized taxa of the world’s modern turtle and tortoise fauna, documenting recent changes and controversies through mid-2021, and including all primary synonyms, updated from eight previous checklists. We provide an updated comprehensive listing of taxonomy and nomenclature, inclu...
A consensus among biologists has been growing in recent years for the development of a global list of accepted species (and other taxa). To date, much discussion has focused on visions for how such a list would benefit many scientific and societal disciplines. Less emphasis has been placed on understanding the many technical challenges of compiling...
Species lists are widely used in legislation and regulation to manage and conserve biodiversity. In this paper, we explore the issues caused by the lack of an adequately governed and universally accepted list of the world's species. These include lack of quality control, duplicated effort, conflicts of interest, lack of currency, and confusion in t...
Governance is the act of governing or organizing, that is a system of rules, norms, or shared strategies to guide or regulate the actions of the governed. Since the initial development of Linnaean taxonomy, a diversity of approaches have been adopted for critical taxonomic decisions, introducing pluralism to taxonomic principles and resulting in di...
Taxonomy—the delimitation, naming, classification and documentation of species and other taxa—is an often-misunderstood discipline. Complex and at times contested, taxonomy occupies a sometimes discomforting intermediate position on a continuum from descriptive to hypothetico-deductive science. Two aspects of taxonomy that are striking to many obse...
A global consensus list of the world’s species must be based on the best available taxonomic research, and its contents should not be biased towards certain political or social aims. At the same time, users of any global list must be involved or consulted in its establishment to ensure that the list meets their needs. This paper argues that while t...
The Burmese Roofed Turtle (Batagur trivittata Duméril & Bibron, 1835) is a large (straight-line carapace length [CL] to 620 mm; Platt et al., 2019), aquatic, herbivorous turtle endemic to the major river systems of Myanmar (Smith 1931; TTWG 2017). Although historically widespread and apparently abundant, long-term population declines resulted from...
Lists of species underpin many fields of human endeavour, but there are currently no universally accepted principles for deciding which biological species should be accepted when there are alternative taxonomic treatments (and, by extension, which scientific names should be applied to those species). As improvements in information technology make i...
Turtles and tortoises (chelonians) have been integral components of global ecosystems for about 220 million years and have played important roles in human culture for at least 400,000 years. The chelonian shell is a remarkable evolutionary adaptation, facilitating success in terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems. Today, more than half of th...
We present a review and analysis of the conservation status and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) threat categories of all 360 currently recognized species of extant and recently extinct turtles and tortoises (Order Testudines). Our analysis is based on the 2018 IUCN Red List status of 251 listed species, augmented by provisiona...
Carettochelys insculpta is under significant pressure and subject to exploitation levels that appear unsustainable, particularly in Papua New Guinea and Indonesian Papua. Adults and their eggs are highly regarded as food by indigenous peoples throughout its range, and exploitation for both food and international trade is threatening populations in...
The herpetofauna of Myanmar remains one of the least studied and poorly known in Asia, and even basic distributional and natural history data are lacking for many species. This situation is particularly alarming given the need for such data when prioritizing conservation action and crafting effective management plans. Furthermore, ethnobiological i...
Taxonomy is a scientific discipline that has provided the universal naming and classification system of biodiversity for centuries and continues effectively to accommodate new knowledge. A recent publication by Garnett and Christidis [1] expressed concerns regarding the difficulty that taxonomic changes represent for conservation efforts and propos...
This book presents a brief summary of the 25th most endangered tortoise and turtle species. The summary includes both common and scientific names, distribution, causes of population decrease, and conservation strategies.
This is our 8th edition of an annotated checklist of all recognized and named taxa of the world’s modern chelonian fauna, documenting recent changes and controversies in nomenclature through early 2017, and including all primary synonyms, updated from 7 previous checklists (Turtle Taxonomy Working Group 2007b, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014; Rhodin e...
Red list assessment for the turtle species Trionyx triunguis
The Asiatic Softshell Turtle, Amyda cartilaginea (Family Trionychidae), is a large species (total carapace length up to 850 mm) showing considerable variation in coloration over its wide range in tropical Southeast Asia. A recent genetic analysis suggests A. cartilaginea may be a species complex consisting of three species level clades with several...
The Keeled Box Turtle, Cuora mouhotii (Family Geoemydidae), is a small (carapace
length up to ca. 250 mm), once poorly-known terrestrial species. Recent extensive research on the
species in its natural habitat in northern Vietnam and Hainan, China, has significantly increased
available knowledge of the species. Cuora mouhotii is a highly terrestria...
We analyzed the taxon richness and endemism of tortoises and freshwater turtles in the world’s premier biodiversity conservation priority areas and countries with greatest turtle richness. Turtle hotspots include biodiversity hotspots (BHS), high-biodiversity wilderness areas (HBWA), and additional turtle priority areas (TPA) previously identified....
Abstract. – We provide a first checklist and review of all recognized taxa of the world's extinct Pleistocene and Holocene (Quaternary) turtles and tortoises that existed during the early rise and global expansion of humanity, and most likely went extinct through a combination of earlier hominin (e.g., Homo erectus, H. neanderthalensis) and later h...
Rhodin, A.G.J., H. Kaiser, P.P. van Dijk, W. Wüster, M. O’Shea, M. Archer, M. Auliya, L. Boitani, R. Bour, V. Clausnitzer, T. Contreras-MacBeath, B.I. Crother, J.M. Daza, C.A. Driscoll, O. Flores-Villela, J. Frazier, U. Fritz, A. Gardner, C. Gascon, A. Georges, F. Glaw, F.G. Grazziotin, C.P. Groves, G. Haszprunar, P. Havaš, J.M. Hero, M. Hoffmann,...
There have been increasing occurrences of what has become known as “taxonomic terrorism,” an unfortunate effect of the Principle of Priority [in the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature]. In science, we generally can and do ignore work that is poorly constructed and poorly published. In taxonomy, this is difficult particularly when other p...
BACKGROUND: An understanding of the conservation status of Madagascar's endemic reptile species is needed to underpin conservation planning and priority setting in this global biodiversity hotspot, and to complement existing information on the island's mammals, birds and amphibians. We report here on the first systematic assessment of the extinctio...
Southern and Southeast Asia, extending from Pakistan to islands on the Sunda Shelf of the Indo-Malayan Archipelago and the Philippines, are home to a highly diverse herpetofauna. Based on the ecoregional classification presented in Wikramanayake et al. (2002) and a species listing database from 2000, we analyse herpetofaunal distribution, while tak...
Determining whether a conflict between gene trees and species represents incomplete lineage sorting (ILS), hybridization involving native and/or invasive species, has implications for reconstructing evolutionary relationships and guiding conservation decisions. Among vertebrates, turtles represent an exceptional case for exploring these issues beca...
Effective and targeted conservation action requires detailed information about species, their distribution, systematics and ecology as well as the distribution of threat processes which affect them. Knowledge of reptilian diversity remains surprisingly disparate, and innovative means of gaining rapid insight into the status of reptiles are needed i...
Global species loss during the present human-caused mass-extinction far exceeds background rates and is detrimental to human existence. Across the globe, vertebrate extinction risks are highest in South-east Asia. This region has among the world’s fastest recent habitat-loss rates. More of a determinant to the conservation status of many vertebrate...
suMMary. – The travancore Tortoise, Indotestudo travancorica (Family Testudinidae) is a medium-sized tortoise (straight carapace length [SCL] up to 331 mm) endemic to the mountain ranges of the Western Ghats in southwestern India. The taxonomy of the genus Indotestudo has recently been revised, and I. travancorica is considered a distinct species....
suMMary. – The travancore Tortoise, Indotestudo travancorica (Family Testudinidae) is a medium-sized tortoise (straight carapace length [SCL] up to 331 mm) endemic to the mountain ranges of the Western Ghats in southwestern India. The taxonomy of the genus Indotestudo has recently been revised, and I. travancorica is considered a distinct species....
Assessing Biodiversity Declines
Understanding human impact on biodiversity depends on sound quantitative projection. Pereira et al. (p. 1496 , published online 26 October) review quantitative scenarios that have been developed for four main areas of concern: species extinctions, species abundances and community structure, habitat loss and degradati...
There are currently ca. 317 recognized species of turtles and tortoises in the world. Of those that have been assessed on the IUCN Red List, 63% are considered threatened, and 10% are critically endangered, with ca. 42% of all known turtle species threatened. Without directed strategic conservation planning, a significant portion of turtle diversit...
The diversity of all turtles and tortoises (chelonians) in the world that have existed in modern times (since 1500 AD), and currently generally recognized as distinct by specialists in turtle taxonomy and systematics, at this time consists of approximately 333 species, of which 58 are polytypic, with 127 additional recognized subspecies, or 460 tot...
The spatial scale of conservation necessary to avoid species extinctions is one of the most vigorous debates in conservation biology. One approach holds that protecting sites should be the primary level for action on the ground, the other that conservation action targeting broader seascapes and landscapes is more important. We address this debate s...
We compiled a list of the named terminal taxa for the world's modern turtle fauna that would summarize recent changes in turtle nomenclature. We provide an annotated list of 465 currently recognized modern terminal taxa (319 species plus 146 additional subspecies) in a hierarchical framework. In order to be as objective as possible we strive to unc...
Taxonomy has been defined as "the naming and assignment of organisms to taxa" (Futuyma, 1998) or "the theory and practice of classifying organisms" (Mayr and Ashlock, 1991). Taxonomy is one of the key ele-ments of the study and protection of biodiversity. In disciplines ranging from conservation biology to bioge-ography to community ecology, we cou...
Based on the examination of museum specimens, original field observations and literature data, we established a preliminary list of the reptiles of Phetchaburi Province (Western Thailand, in the upper part of the peninsula). There are 70 species of reptiles including 4 turtles, 1 crocodile, 21 lizards and 44 snakes, and not less than 45 (64.3 %) ar...
At least 11 and possibly up to 16 species of native turtles still inhabit the Mae Klong basin and adjacent minor drainages. Among these are several rare species. The high number of genera, 10 to 15, may make it the world's most diverse turtle community. The western Thai population of the Striped Giant Softshell was recently recognised as a full ind...
Taxonomy is the logical outcome of systematic research and knowledge; together, taxonomy and systematics form the basis for virtually all research in evolution, ecology, and conservation biology. Turtle taxonomy has been a very active field in the last few decades, particularly as new research has demonstrated that many traditionally recognized hig...
Projects
Projects (3)
Developing applied research and direct conservation in situ for the long-term protection of the species and its habitat.
This project I volunteer on I am an Administrator there. Basically the idea is to build a database of the basic taxonomy and nomenclature of all living organisms. It provides the names, references, and type data for each species presented in its basic nomenclatural phylogeny. Although owned by Wikimedia Foundation, like Wikipedia is, is operates separately to Wikipedia and is far more scientific. We are always after more people to edit, if you are interested in seeing your specialty group listed appropriately and wish to help please contact me.
Email: scott.thomson321@gmail.com
Skype: Faendalimas
Wikispecies: https://species.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
My Talk at Wikispecies: https://species.wikimedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Faendalimas