<![CDATA[<B>A new species of <I>Mesoclemmys,</I> from the open formations of northeastern Brazil (Chelonii, Chelidae)</B>]]>

Abstract

A new species of South American side-necked turtle is described from the state of Piauí, Brazil. It is related to the Amazonian species of the genus Mesoclemmys s.l. (new acceptation) and is apparently a biogeographically relictual population of a species formerly living under a more humid climate in northeasternBrazil.

The herpetofauna of Parque Nacional da Serra das Confusões, state of Piauí, Brazil, with a regional species list from an ecotonal area of Cerrado and Caatinga

“…Sampling efforts at PNSCo resulted in the discovery and description of five new species: Calyptommatus confusionibus (Rodrigues et al 2001), Mesoclemmys perplexa (Bour & Zaher 2005), Stenocercus squarrosus (Nogueira & Rodrigues 2006), Ameivula confusioniba and Glaucomastix venetacauda (Arias et al 2011a). Another three are candidates to new species.…”

“…The park is situated within the Parnaíba drainage, in a sandstone plateau with altitudes ranging from about 450 to 700 m above the sea level [a.s.l.]) (Rodrigues et al 2001;Bour & Zaher 2005). The plateau is locally known as "Chapada da Serra Grande," contains most of the area belonging to the park, and is dissected on its southwestern portion by the intermittent Santana River drainage (Rodrigues et al, 2001;Bour and Zaher, 2005).…”

“…(Rodrigues et al 2001;Bour & Zaher 2005). The plateau is locally known as "Chapada da Serra Grande," contains most of the area belonging to the park, and is dissected on its southwestern portion by the intermittent Santana River drainage (Rodrigues et al, 2001;Bour and Zaher, 2005). The top of the plateau, averages 550 m a.s.l., being covered by a tall arboreal caatinga that grows on sandy soil and produces an abundant leaf litter.…”

“…Such efforts also resulted in the description of several new species for the region (Cerrado: Colli et al 2003, Ferrarezzi et al 2005, Nogueira & Rodrigues 2006, Rodrigues et al 2007, Pinna et al 2010, Teixeira Jr. et al 2012Arias et al 2014;Recoder et al 2014; Caatinga: Rodrigues et al 2001, Rodrigues et al 2003b, Bour and Zaher 2005, Nogueira & Rodrigues 2006, Arias et al 2011a, Arias et al 2011b, Passos et al 2011) and the discovery of large populations of species that were considered rare until now (Rodrigues et al 2013). High diversity in Cerrado faunal assemblages can be explained by local physiognomic heterogeneity, (Eiten 1972, Oliveira-Filho & Ratter 2002, Colli et al 2002) and historical climatic stability (Werneck et al 2012).…”

Mesoclemmys vanderhaegei (Bour 1973) – Vanderhaege’s Toad-headed Turtle, Karumbé-hy.

“…By describing the morphologically intermediate Mesoclemmys perplexa from central-eastern Brazil, Bour and Zaher (2005) proposed a more cautious approach by including B. vanderhaegei (sensu McCord et al 2001) into the genus Mesoclemmys Gray 1873. This solution is currently accepted, but further studies • Chelonian Research Monographs,No.…”