University of Kansas Publications
Museum of Natural History
Volume 11, No. 9, pp. 517-525, 2 pls., 1 fig.
August 14, 1959
BY
ROBERT G. WEBB
University of Kansas
Lawrence
1959
University of Kansas Publications, Museum of Natural History
Editors: E. Raymond Hall, Chairman, Henry S. Fitch,
Robert W. Wilson
Volume 11, No. 9, pp. 517-525, 2 pls., 1 Fig.
Published August 14, 1959
University of Kansas
Lawrence, Kansas
PRINTED IN
THE STATE PRINTING PLANT
TOPEKA, KANSAS
1959
27-8360
BY
ROBERT G. WEBB
Examination of softshell turtles allied to Trionyx muticus fromthe southeastern United States discloses the presence of an undescribedsubspecies inhabiting river systems of the Gulf Coast.
The author is indebted to Mr. Roger Conant for constructive criticismof the manuscript. I am grateful also to many fellow studentsfor assistance in field work or for other courtesies, especially WilliamE. Brode, Franklin Sogandares-Bernal, Ernest A. Liner,Donald W. Tinkle, Paul K. Anderson, and John K. Greer. Thephotographs were provided through the cooperation of Roger andIsabelle Hunt Conant and John M. Legler.
Collections from which specimens were obtained are as follows:TU (Tulane University), USNM (United States National Museum),MCZ (Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard College),CNHM (Chicago Natural History Museum), KU (Museum ofNatural History, University of Kansas), UI (Museum of NaturalHistory, University of Illinois).
Measurements (in millimeters) were made with a Vernier caliperand a metal tape; those of the holotype were made to the nearestone-tenth millimeter. Plastral length was measured from theposterior edge of the plastron to the anteriormost edge of theventral surface; other measurements were maximal. Depth of shellwas taken only on hatchlings and an immature female. Hatchlingswere arbitrarily designated as specimens having plastrons shorterthan 44 mm; sex of all specimens except adult males was determinedby dissection unless otherwise noted.
Amyda mutica (in part), Stejneger, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool.,94(1):23-24, 1944.
Amyda muticus (in part), Cook, Jour. Mississippi Acad. Sci.,1941-1947, p. 185, 1946.
Trionyx muticus Anderson, Copeia, 3:211, August 28, 1958.
Holotype.—UI 31071, hatchling, sex undetermined, from the Pearl River,Roses Bluff, 14 miles northeast Jackson, Rankin County, Mississippi; obtainedby William F. Childers on August 25, 1952 (Plate 1).
Paratypes.—A total of 20 alcoholic specimens: TU 17301, hatchling male(Plate 2). TU 17302-.1, 16682, three hatchling females, and TU 13473,[Pg 520]adult female, from the Escambia River, 2 miles east and 1 mile north ofCentury, Escambia County, Florida; TU 17306, adult female, from the PearlRiver, 9 miles south of Monticello, Lawrence County, Mississippi; USNM765