Erfahrungsbericht über die Haltung und deutsche Erstzucht der Borneo-Flussschildkröte (Orlitia borneensis Gray, 1873) im Zoo Dresden

Dresden Zoo bred successfully the Malaysian giant turtle (Orlitia borneensis) in summer 2012. This was the first successful breeding of this species in Germany.Little is known about biology and behaviour of this large river turtle and keeping and especially breeding of this endangered species in captivity is a rarity. In order to create optimal breeding conditions Dresden Zoo rebuilt an enclosure for the turtles in 2010. An area with soil and sand was built for the expected egg deposition. After arranged matings one female dug a nest on this area and buried her eggs. Nine eggs were secured and transferred into an incubator in a box filled with a 1:1 mixture of vermiculite and water. The average temperature was 29 °C. After problems with the temperature regulation the damaged incubator had to be replaced. Because of an estimated incubation period of 3–4 months, one egg was opened on day 127 of incubation. A live hatchling with a big yolk sac was fetched. Because of the non-reabsorbed yolk sac the hatchling was further incubated. On day 154 of incubation all eggs were manually opened and the hatchlings were fetched. All of these hatchlings showed a non-reabsorbed yolk sac and were incubated onwards in a box with wet paper towel until the yolk sac was completely reabsorbed. After that the hatchlings were housed solitarily in a box with water of approximately 4 cm height and a small land area. Two days after housing food was offered for the first time. All hatchlings accepted the offered food consisting of herbal as well as of animal products and later turtle pellets and self-made turtle jelly.Though little is known about breeding this species, the breeding success of Dresden Zoo demonstrates a possible approach to this topic. But there are still things to optimize. For example the manual hatching is something that should be avoided in future. Fertilization and hatching rate of 100% are promising and up to date eight out of nine hatchlings are still alive.     

The fossil turtles of Greece: An overview of taxonomy and distribution

Turtle remains are common in the Miocene-Holocene deposits of Greece, and are a key focus of the growing research interest in Neogene herpetofaunas from the Aegean region. Some of the most important finds include one of Europe's stratigraphically youngest pleurodiran taxa, Nostimochelone lampra, from the Early Miocene of Macedonia, together with arguably the richest record of fossil tortoises from the Eastern Mediterranean. This incorporates the presently oldest definitive representatives of the quintessential genus Testudo sensu stricto from the Late Miocene of Attica and Macedonia, and numerous specimens of the colossal (carapace ∼2 m-length) testudinid Cheirogaster from Late Miocene-Late Pliocene sediments in southern and northern Greece, as well as on the eastern Aegean islands of Samos and Lesvos. Tantalising, but as yet unconfirmed Miocene accounts of the geoemydid Mauremys in Macedonia, and indeterminate emydid-like remains from Euboea, also provide potentially significant range extensions. Although hampered by a historically sparse documentation, the fossil turtles of Greece are a significant resource that record both assemblage changes and the origin of modern lineages.     

Historical DNA from museum type specimens clarifies diversity of Asian leaf turtles (Cyclemys)

Species boundaries in Asian leaf turtles of the genus Cyclemys are difficult to define on the basis of morphology, primarily because many populations exhibit considerable ontogenetic variation in shell and head coloration. Two recent molecular phylogenetic hypotheses of Cyclemys species relationships, based largely on market and pet-trade samples of uncertain provenance, were highly incongruent. We used historical DNA methods to sequence fragments of the mitochondrial cytochrome  b gene from eight type specimens of Cyclemys (including one collected by Alfred Russel Wallace), and phylogenetically placed these type sequences into the context of published cytochrome  b variation. Our phylogenetic hypothesis supports the recognition of four named species ( Cyclemys atripons , Cyclemys dentata , Cyclemys oldhamii , and C. pulchristriata ), as well as a fifth species of unknown geographical provenance obtained from the Hong Kong pet trade. The type sequences show that previous molecular phylogenetic studies were hampered by misidentifications, supporting the notion that Cyclemys of unknown provenance are not reliably identified to species solely on the basis of morphology.  © 2008 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2008, 94 , 131–141.     

Conservation phylogenetics of the Asian box turtles (Geoemydidae, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cuora</Emphasis>): mitochondrial introgression,numts, and inferences from multiple nuclear loci

Asian box turtles (genus Cuora, family Geoemydidae) comprise a clade of 12 aquatic and semiaquatic nominate species distributed across southern China and Southeast Asia. Over the last two decades, turtles throughout Asia have been harvested at an unsustainable rate to satisfy demands for food, traditional Chinese medicine, and the pet trade. Consequently, all species of Cuora were recently placed on the IUCN Red List, nine are currently listed as critically endangered by the IUCN, and all species are listed in Appendix II of CITES. We compiled a 67-specimen mitochondrial (∼1,650 base pairs (bp) from two mitochondrial genes) and a 40-specimen nuclear-plus-mitochondrial (∼3,900 bp total, three nuclear introns plus an additional ∼860 bp mitochondrial gene fragment) DNA data set to reconstruct the phylogeny of Cuora species and to assess genetic diversity and species boundaries for several of the most problematic taxa. Our sampling included 23 C. trifasciata, 17 C. zhoui and 1–4 individuals of the remaining 10 species of Cuora. Maximum likelihood, maximum parsimony and Bayesian analyses all recovered similar, well resolved trees. Within the Cuora clade, mitochondrial and nuclear sequence data indicated that both C. zhoui and C. mccordi represent old lineages with little or no history of interspecific gene flow, suggesting that they are good genealogical species. Based on mtDNA, Cuora pani was paraphyletic and C. trifasciata was composed of two highly divergent lineages that were not each other’s closest relatives; both cases of non-monophyly were due to a mtDNA sequence that was widespread and identical in C. aurocapitata, C. pani and C. trifasciata. However, when combined with nuclear DNA results, our data indicate that C. trifasciata is a single, monophyletic taxon, and that mitochondrial introgression and nuclear-mitochondrial pseudogenes have led to a complex pattern of mitochondrial gene relationships that does not reflect species-level histories. Our results imply that captive “assurance colonies” of both C. trifasciata and C. pani should be genotyped to identify pure, non-hybrid members of both taxa, and we recommend that introgressed and pure taxa be managed as independent entities until the full evolutionary histories of these critically endangered turtles are resolved.     

Phylogenetic relationships and biogeographical history of the genus Rhinoclemmys Fitzinger, 1835 and the monophyly of the turtle family Geoemydidae (Testudines: Testudinoidea)

Rhinoclemmys is an interesting genus of turtles biogeographically and ecologically, being the only genus of the family Geoemydidae that occurs in the New World and inhabiting a wide range of habitats from aquatic to highly terrestrial. Here we present a molecular phylogeny of Rhinoclemmys using both mitochondrial and nuclear genes. Our results strongly support the monophyletic and subfamilial status of Rhinoclemmys within the monophyletic family Geoemydidae. Within Rhinoclemmys , two clades are strongly supported, i.e. R. annulata  +  R. pulcherrima and R. areolata  +  R. punctularia  +  R. diademata  +  R. funerea  +  R. melanosterna , but the positions of R. nasuta and R. rubida are still weakly supported. In terms of the biogeographical history, the results of this study, coupled with palaeontological evidence, corroborate the hypothesis that this group migrated from Asia to the Americas across the Bering Strait during the early Eocene. The radiation of Rhinoclemmys in Central and South America corresponds well with vicariance events, including the emergence of the Sierra Madres of Mexico and the Nuclear Highland, and dispersals across the Panama land bridge. Interestingly, our resulting phylogeny suggests this group invaded South America at least four times and that dispersal of R. nasuta to South America probably took place in the early Miocene before the emergence of the Isthmus of Panama. We finally discuss our phylogenetic results with regard to the monophyly of the family Geoemydidae and in the context of previous morphological analyses. © 2008 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2008, 153 , 751–767.     

Isolation and characterization of six polymorphic microsatellite markers in the freshwater turtle Mauremys rivulata (Testudines: Geoemydidae)

Six polymorphic microsatellite loci containing dinucleotide repeats were developed for the freshwater turtle Mauremys rivulata. The number of alleles ranged from five to 18. The observed and expected heterozygosities ranged from 0.19 to 0.79 and 0.46 to 0.90, respectively. These markers may serve as a valuable tool for population genetics analyses and provide information on the evolutionary history of the species.     

The Scontrone turtles – A new insular testudinoid fauna from the late Miocene of the Central Mediterranean

We here describe a small turtle assemblage originating from the early Tortonian (late Miocene) palaeoisland of Scontrone, central Italy, a locality previously known mostly for its endemic mammals and giant birds, which were otherwise shared only with the Gargano localities, another fossiliferous area belonging to the same palaeobioprovince. The fossil turtle remains from Scontrone are referred to the geoemydid Mauremys sp. and a so far unidentified large-sized testudinid. The biogeographic origins of the Scontrone insular chelonians are discussed. The Scontrone geoemydid adds to the known occurrences of Mauremys in the late Miocene of the Mediterranean. The Scontrone large tortoise represents the oldest known Mediterranean insular testudinid, predating significantly the well-known Quaternary endemic island tortoises of the area.     

龟鳖目淡水龟科系统发生关系的研究进展

淡水龟科是龟鳖目中物种数目最多、形态变异最多样的一个类群。其早期的系统学研究主要依据形态学和细胞学的特征,近年来,随着分子数据的不断增多,结合形态学等方法,淡水龟科系统发生学研究取得了诸多进展,但至今尚未有一致的结论。本文主要对近年来有关淡水龟科起源的单系性问题;潮龟属、闭壳龟属和拟水龟属重划分问题;潮龟属、草龟属和小棱背龟属属间关系问题;齿缘龟属、果龟属和东方龟属属间关系问题;齿缘龟属和木纹龟属属内种间关系问题研究进行了文献综述,以期为淡水龟科的系统发生关系和物种保护等研究提供参考。