Spanish pond turtle

The Iberian pond turtle (Mauremys leprosa), also known as the Mediterranean pond turtle or Mediterranean turtle, is a species of turtle in the family Geoemydidae. The species is endemic to southwestern Europe and northwestern Africa.

Subspecies

Including the nominotypical subspecies, there are two sub-species which are accepted:^[4]

M. leprosa leprosa (Schweigger, 1812)^[2] – Iberian pond turtle
M. leprosa saharica Schleich, 1996^[2] – Saharan pond turtle

Gallery

male M. l. saharica, Morocco
adults and juvenile M. l. saharica, Morocco
swimming
Juvenile

Distribution

Mauremys leprosa is native to the western mainland Mediterranean Basin, stretching from the tip of southern France to the northwestern Maghreb (in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya). It is most frequent in the southern half of the Iberian Peninsula (Portugal and Spain).^[1]

References

^ a b van Dijk, P.P., Mateo Miras, J.A., Cheylan, M., Joger, U., Sá-Sousa, P. & Pérez-Mellado, V. (2004). "Mauremys leprosa". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2004: e.T158468A5199555. Retrieved 5 March 2021.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ a b c Rhodin 2010, pp. 000.111–000.112
^ Fritz, Uwe; Havaš, Peter (2007). "Checklist of Chelonians of the World". Vertebrate Zoology. 57 (2): 230–231. doi:10.3897/vz.57.e30895. ISSN 1864-5755. S2CID 87809001.
^ Mauremys leprosa at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 25 September 2020.

Bibliography

Rhodin, Anders G.J.; van Dijk, Peter Paul; Iverson, John B.; Shaffer, H. Bradley (2010-12-14). "Turtles of the World 2010 Update: Annotated Checklist of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution and Conservation Status" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-17. Retrieved 2010-12-15.