The Texas spiny softshell turtle (''Apalone spinifera emoryi)'' is a
subspecies
In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
of the
spiny softshell turtle
The spiny softshell turtle (''Apalone spinifera'') is a species of softshell turtle, one of the largest freshwater turtle species in North America. Both the common name, spiny softshell, and the specific name, ''spinifera'' (spine-bearing), r ...
in the
family Trionychidae. The subspecies is native to the southwestern
United States and adjacent northeastern
Mexico.
Etymology
The
subspecific name, ''emoryi'', is in honor of
United States Army officer and
surveyor
Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...
William Hemsley Emory
William Hemsley Emory (September 7, 1811 – December 1, 1887) was a prominent American surveyor and civil engineer in the 19th century. As an officer in the U.S. Army Corps of Topographical Engineers he specialized in mapping the United States b ...
.
Geographic range
''A. s. emoryi'' is found in western
Texas and
New Mexico, in the
Rio Grande
The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico.
The length of the Rio G ...
and its immediate
tributaries, and in the Mexican states of
Coahuila
Coahuila (), formally Coahuila de Zaragoza (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Coahuila de Zaragoza ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Coahuila de Zaragoza), is one of the 32 states of Mexico.
Coahuila borders the Mexican states of N ...
and
Tamaulipas.
["''Apalone spinifera''". The Reptiles Database. www.reptile-database.org.]
References
Further reading
*
Agassiz L (1857). ''Contributions to the Natural History of the United States of America. Vol. I.'' Boston: Little, Brown and Company. li + 452 pp. (''Aspidonectes emoryi'', new species, pp. 407–408).
*
Boulenger GA (1889). ''Catalogue of the Chelonians, Rhynchocephalians, and Crocodiles in the British Museum (Natural History). New Edition.'' London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). x + 311 pp. + Plates I–III. (''Trionyx emoryi'', p. 258).
*
Powell R,
Conant R,
Collins JT 2016). ''Peterson Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, Fourth Edition''. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. xiv + 494 pp., 47 color plates, 207 figures. . (''Apalone spinifera emoryi'', p. 233).
*
*
Smith HM,
Brodie ED Jr (1982). ''Reptiles of North America: A Guide to Field Identification''. New York: Golden Press. 240 pp. (paperback), (hardcover). (''Trionyx spiniferus emoryi'', pp. 32–33).
*
Stebbins RC (2003). ''A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians, Third Edition''. The Peterson Field Guide Series ®. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. xiii + 533 pp., 56 color plates. . (''Trionyx spiniferus emoryi'', p. 262).
External links
*
Turtle Field Guide: Spiny Softshell Subspecies
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7708292
Apalone
Turtles of North America
Reptiles of the United States
Fauna of the Southwestern United States
Fauna of the Rio Grande valleys
Taxa named by Louis Agassiz