New records of Mesoclemmys raniceps (Testudines, Chelidae) for the states of Amazonas, Pará and Rondônia, North Brazil, including the Tocantins basin.

Abstract

Of the 58 species of living Chelidae (Rhodin et al.,2017), 20 are known from Brazil (Costa and Bérnils,2018). Of these, nine occur in the Amazon basin,including species of the genera Chelus, Mesoclemmys,Platemys, Phrynops and Rhinemys (Ferrara et al., 2017).The genus Mesoclemmys is the most diverse in Brazil, and five of the eight species of Mesoclemmys in Brazil occur within the Amazon basin (Souza, 2005; Ferrara et al., 2017). Species of genus Mesoclemmys are rare and inconspicuous when compared to other freshwater turtles, and live in hard-to-reach places, to extent that populations are rarely studied. This genus represents the least studied among Amazonian turtles (Vogt, 2008; Ferrara et al., 2017).