Allozymic and Morphological Variation among the Musk Turtles Sternotherus carinatus, S.depressus and S. minor (Kinosternidae)
Seidel ME and Lucchino RV. 1981. Allozymic and Morphological Variation among the Musk Turtles Sternotherus carinatus, S.depressus and S. minor (Kinosternidae). Copeia. 1981(1):119-128
ABSTRACT: Electrophoretic analysis of 11 protein systems (17 loci) and discriminant anal- ysis of 15 morphological characters examines speciation among Sternotherus car- inatus, S. depressus and S. minor. S. carinatus is strongly divergent from the other species. Allozyme similarities suggest a close affinity between S. depressus and S. minor but do not indicate introgression or intergradation between the two. Dis- criminant analysis of morphological characters shows S. minor as phenetically distinct from S. depressus as it is from S. carinatus, and no population of S. minor is intermediate with S. depressus. Morphological differences and absence of clinal convergence between S. depressus and S. minor indicate that these taxa are distinct species.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Seidel, Michael; Lucchino, Ronald
- Units
- GRSM
- Keywords
- APHN, Appalachian Highlands Network, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, GRSM, Kinosternidae, Reptiles, SER, Southeast Region, Sternotherus minor peltifer, turtles