Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle
Specialist Group
Turtles of the World Checklist
Download pdf (2009 Checklist 000.v2)
Turtles of the World:
Annotated Checklist of Taxonomy and Synonymy, 2009 Update,
with Conservation Status Summary
Turtle Taxonomy Working Group*
*Authorship of this article is by this group,
which for the purposes of this document consisted of the following contributors:
Anders G.J. Rhodin1, James F. Parham2,
Peter Paul van Dijk3, and John B. Iverson4
1Chair, IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group,
Chelonian Research Foundation, 168 Goodrich St., Lunenburg, Massachusetts 01462 USA [RhodinCRF@aol.com];
2Biodiversity Synthesis Center, The Field Museum, 1400 South Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60605 USA, and Dept. of Herpetology, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, CA 94103 USA [jparham@fieldmuseum.org];
3Deputy Chair, IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group,
Conservation International, 2011 Crystal Drive, Suite 500, Arlington, Virginia 22202 USA [p.vandijk@conservation.org];
4Dept. of Biology, Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana 47374 USA [johni@earlham.edu]
Abstract. – We continue our annual compilation of an annotated checklist of the recognized and named taxa of the world’s modern chelonian fauna, documenting recent changes and controversies in nomenclature, and including all primary synonyms. We expand our analysis by also providing a conservation status summary of the number of threatened species of turtles. This list is an updated version of our previous checklists, published first by the Turtle Taxonomy Working Group (2007b) and then by Rhodin et al. (2008). We strive to record the most recent justified assignment of terminal taxa in a hierarchical framework, and for some taxonomic placements we show alternative arrangements, while for others we provide reasoned judgments as to whether or not we accept recently proposed changes. The list should provide an impetus for future work aimed at clarifying and resolving areas of taxonomic disagreement and/or uncertainty, and will be updated periodically with new versions published as necessary—this version is current as of 1 December 2009. The diversity of turtles and tortoises in the world that have existed in modern times (since 1500 AD), and currently generally recognized as distinct and included on this checklist, consists of 333 species, of which 58 are polytypic, with 127 additional recognized subspecies, or 460 total taxa of modern turtles and tortoises. Of these, nine species and one subspecies, or 10 taxa, have become extinct. As of the current 2009 IUCN Red List, 131 turtle species (out of 212 species assessed) are officially listed as globally threatened (Critically Endangered, Endangered, or Vulnerable). Based on the slightly different taxonomy in this checklist, 134 species (40.2% of all 333 turtle species) are considered threatened, with another nine provisionally assessed as threatened, yielding ca. 43.2% of all turtles threatened. Based on additional draft Red List assessments and including Extinct in the Wild and Extinct species, 48.3% of all modern turtles are either extinct or threatened with extinction.
Key Words. – Reptilia; Testudines; turtle; tortoise; chelonian; taxonomy; nomenclature; genera; species; subspecies; primary synonyms; suprageneric hierarchy; systematics; conservation status; threatened species; extinction
Citation:
Turtle Taxonomy Working Group [Rhodin, A.G.J., Parham, J.F., van Dijk, P.P., and Iverson, J.B.]. 2009. Turtles of the world: annotated checklist of taxonomy and synonymy, 2009 update, with conservation status summary. In: Rhodin, A.G.J., Pritchard, P.C.H., van Dijk, P.P., Saumure, R.A., Buhlmann, K.A., Iverson, J.B., and Mittermeier, R.A. (Eds.). Conservation Biology of Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises: A Compilation Project of the IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group. Chelonian Research Monographs No. 5, pp. 000.39–000.84, doi:10.3854/crm.5.000.checklist.v2.2009, http://www.iucn–tftsg.org/cbftt/.
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