Open AccessElectrophoretic delineation of species boundaries within the genus Chelodina (Testudines: Chelidae) of Australia, New Guinea and Indonesia
Author(s) -
GEORGES ARTHUR,
ADAMS MARK,
McCORD WILLIAM
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
zoological journal of the linnean society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.148
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1096-3642
pISSN - 0024-4082
DOI - 10.1046/j.1096-3642.2002.00007.x
Subject(s) - biology , zoology , clade , subgenus , taxon , genus , ecology , phylogenetics , biochemistry , gene
A total of 281 specimens of long‐necked chelid turtles ( Chelodina ) were obtained from drainages of Australia, Papua New Guinea and the island of Roti in Indonesia. Ten diagnosable taxa were identified using allozyme profiles at 45 presumptive loci. Chelodina expansa , C. parkeri , C. rugosa and C. burrungandjii are in a Group A clade, C. longicollis , C. novaeguineae , C. steindachneri , C. pritchardi and C. mccordi are in a Group B clade, and C. oblonga is in a monotypic Group C clade, with each clade thought to represent a distinct subgenus. Chelodina siebenrocki is synonymised with C. rugosa . An eleventh taxon, C. reimanni , could not be distinguished from C. novaeguineae on the basis of allozyme profiles, but it is morphologically distinct. Its status is therefore worthy of further investigation. Three instances of natural hybridization were detected. Chelodina rugosa and C. novaeguineae hybridize in the Gulf country of Queensland, with evidence of backcrossing to C. novaeguineae . Chelodina longicollis and C. novaeguineae hybridize in central coastal Queensland, and C. rugosa and C. burrungandjii hybridize along their zone of contact in the plateau escarpment streams and pools. A phylogeny for the Chelodina is presented. © 2002 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2002, 134 , 401–421.