Emys vulgaris Gray, 1831

Nowak-Kemp, Małgosia & Fritz, Uwe, 2010, Chelonian type specimens at the Oxford University Museum, Zootaxa 2604 (1), pp. 1-19 : 12-13

Emys vulgaris Gray in Griffith & Pidgeon, 1831: p. 9

Current name: Mauremys leprosa (Schweigger, 1812)

Paralectotypes (8 specimens): OUM 8482 ( Bell Collection , Catalogue of Testudinata No. 31a; whole, dried male, SCL 15 cm, bears small label with number “206”) ; OUM 8483 ( Bell Collection , Catalogue of Testudinata No. 31b; shell, SCL 13.8 cm, bears small label with number “139”) ; OUM 8484 ( Bell Collection , Catalogue of Testudinata No. 31c; whole, dried male, SCL 9.5 cm, bears small label with number “137”) ; OUM 8485 ( Bell Collection , Catalogue of Testudinata No. 31d; shell, SCL 8.6 cm, bears small label with number “135”) ; OUM 8486 ( Bell Collection , Catalogue of Testudinata No. 31e; shell, SCL 7.9 cm, bears small label with number “140”) ; OUM 8487 ( Bell Collection , Catalogue of Testudinata No. 31f; shell, SCL 7.9 cm, bears small label with number “136”) ; OUM 8488 ( Bell Collection , Catalogue of Testudinata No. 31g; shell, SCL 7.8 cm) ; OUM 8762 ( Bell Collection ; whole, young specimen in spirit, SCL 5 cm) .

Remarks: We regard all specimens from the Bell Collection, originally identified as Emys lutaria and later as “ Clemmys caspica leprosa ” = Mauremys leprosa as paralectotypes of Emys vulgaris . Bell himself assigned these specimens to Emys lutaria as evident from small old labels glued to the shells. In his Monograph of the Testudinata, Bell (1832–1836) placed Gray’s Emys vulgaris into the synonymy of Emys lutaria and the two depicted specimens are clearly to be identified with Mauremys leprosa . However, the taxonomic history of Emys vulgaris is rather confusing. Although traditionally regarded as a junior synonym of Emys leprosa Schweigger, 1812 , this taxon was originally composed of several species ( Fritz & Wischuf 1997), as evident from the figured turtles in plate 4 of Gray (1831a). To avoid nomenclatural upheaval, Fritz & Wischuf (1997) designated the figured Mauremys leprosa as lectotype, rendering the now rediscovered, surviving types from the Bell Collection to paralectotypes. OUM 8482, 8484, 8488, and 8762 are Mauremys leprosa, OUM 8483, 8485, and 8487 are M. rivulata , and OUM 8486 is a M. mutica . According to Gray (1831a: p. 24), further paralectotypes are in the Natural History Museum, London, and the Nationaal Natuurhistorisch Museum Naturalis in Leiden (formerly Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie; see also Hoogmoed et al. 2010). Gray (loc. cit.) mentions, moreover, that he has seen “ more than twenty living ” of his Emys vulgaris .