Pelusios rhodesianus Hewitt, 1927

Conradie, Werner, Keates, Chad, Verburgt, Luke, Baptista, Ninda L., Harvey, James, Júlio, Timóteo & Neef, Götz, 2022, Contributions to the herpetofauna of the Angolan Okavango-Cuando-Zambezi River drainages. Part 2: Lizards (Sauria), chelonians, and crocodiles, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation (e 322) 16 (2), pp. 181-214 : 208

Pelusios rhodesianus Hewitt, 1927

Variable Mud Terrapin ( Fig. 42 , Map 39)

Material (4 specimens): PEM R23329 , Cuito River source lake, -12.68935° 18.36012°, 1,435 m asl ; PEM R23490 (shell), Quembo River source, -13.13959° 19.04890°, 1,375 m asl ; PEM R23562 , en route to the Cuando and Quembo confluence ; PEM R27411 , Luvu River camp, -13.71200° 21.83538°, 1,082 m asl ; uncatalogued individual from middle Cubango River . Description: Most specimens were juveniles, but one adult carapace measured 177 mm ( PEM R23490 ). The carapace and plastron of the shell were uniform dark brown to black. Juveniles had dark brown carapaces, but the plastrons varied from uniform black to beige with darker centers; head and limbs uniform brown; interlimb skin white to yellowish. The adult carapace was elongate and smooth with a weak vertebral keel anteriorly, while all the juveniles’ carapaces were rounded with a pronounced vertebral crest. Habitat and natural history notes: Juvenile specimens were caught with a net while collecting fish in the deeper waters of the lake and rivers. Comment: The new records fill the gap in the known distribution between central Angola and the Okavango Delta ( Rhodin et al. 2021) .

Figures

Fig. 42. Subadult female Pelusios rhodesianus (PEM R23329) from Cuito River source. Photo by Werner Conradie.