Review of the Graptemys pulchra group (Reptilia: Testudines: Emydidae), with descriptions of two new species

Abstract

The Graptemys pulchra species group, which includes G. pulchra sensu lato and G. barbouri, is defined. Graptemys ernsti, n.sp. is described from the Pensacola Bay drainage, Florida and Alabama, and Graptemys gibbonsi, n.sp. from the Pascagoula River and Pearl River drainages, Mississippi and Louisiana. A speciation hypothesis for this turtle group, based on successive isolation and contact of drainages due to sea level changes, agrees with data for freshwater fishes of the region. -from Authors