Pascagoula map turtle

Pascagoula map turtle
Conservation status
Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)
CITES Appendix II
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Testudines
Suborder:	Cryptodira
Family:	Emydidae
Genus:	Graptemys
Species:	G. gibbonsi
Binomial name
Graptemys gibbonsi Lovich & McCoy, 1992
Combined range map of Pascagoula map turtle (eastern blue section) and Pearl River map turtle (western blue section)
Synonyms
Graptemys gibbonsi Lovich & McCoy, 1992 Graptemys pulchra gibbonsi — Artner, 2003 Graptemys gibbousi [sic] Obst, 2003 (ex errore)

The Pascagoula map turtle (Graptemys gibbonsi) is a species of turtle in the family Emydidae. The species is native to the southern United States.

Geographic range

The Pascagoula map turtle is restricted to the Pascagoula River system in the state of Mississippi in the United States. It formerly included a population in the Pearl River, but in 2010, that population was described as a separate species, the Pearl River map turtle, Graptemys pearlensis. The Pascagoula map turtle shares its range with the yellow-blotched map turtle, Graptemys flavimaculata.

Etymology

The specific name, gibbonsi, is in honor of American herpetologist "Whit" Gibbons.

Pascagoula Map Turtle at the San Diego Zoo

Pascagoula river map

Further reading

• Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group (1996). Graptemys gibbonsi. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved 29 July 2007.
• Lovich JE, McCoy CJ (1992). "Review of the Graptemys pulchra Group (Reptilia: Testudines: Emydidae), with Descriptions of Two New Species". Annals of Carnegie Museum 61 (4): 293–315. ("Graptemys gibbonsi, new species", pp. 302–304, Figures 6–7).