Ringed Map Turtle (Graptemys oculifera)

Created: November 15th, 2011 - 08:48 PM
Last Modified: November 15th, 2011 - 08:50 PM Entered by: Eric Rittmeyer
Record 96185

Country: United States		State: Louisiana	County: Washington Parish	Time: 2011-11-15 00:00:00
Qty: 1	Age: Adult	Sex: Male	Method: Visual encounter	Habitat: -----
Body Temperature: -----		Air Temperature: -----	Ground Temperature: -----	Humidity: -----
Sky Conditions: -----		Moon Phase: -----	Elevation: -----	Barometric Pressure: -----

Notes

Apologies for the poor quality voucher photo, the turtle was basking some distance away, and this was the only photo I got before it dove. However, the characteristic yellow rings on the carapace were clearly visible through binoculars.

Vouchers

Comments

Posted by Eric Rittmeyer on Nov 17, 2011 at 06:14 PM

Yeah, the colors are definitely correct on my copy. Of course I had to replace my copy around 2006 or so, so it's probably a later printing with the error corrected. Interesting.

Posted by Brian Hubbs on Nov 17, 2011 at 06:09 PM

I have the 1998 edition and it's wrong in mine...look at yours again and check the colors on the little map...of course,yours may be a different printing where they corrected the error...

Posted by Eric Rittmeyer on Nov 17, 2011 at 05:44 PM

No worries, Brian. Just out of curiousity, which version of Conant & Collins do you have? My 1998 copy has it colored correctly. But yeah, a mistake like mixing up a couple colors on the map would be easy to do, easy to miss, and could certainly confuse a lot of people. One of these days I'm going to head further east in search of some of the other Graptemys, but I've now found all the Louisiana and New York species, so it's a start.

Posted by Brian Hubbs on Nov 16, 2011 at 12:52 PM

LOL...Collins has the map colored wrong in the field guide, but the text is correct. You are correct, but I bet that goof in the field guide confuses a lot of people...sorry about that.

Posted by Eric Rittmeyer on Nov 16, 2011 at 05:14 AM

Brian, I think you're confusing the distribution of G. oculifera with another species of Graptemys. Graptemys oculifera is endemic to the Pearl River drainage on the border of Mississippi and Louisiana (and does not occur in Alabama). The species has also previously been collected from this locality.

Posted by Brian Hubbs on Nov 16, 2011 at 01:31 AM

This species is only found in Alabama and Mississippi. Are you sure of the I.D.?