Summary
The Alabama Map Turtle, Graptemys pulchra (Family Emydidae), is a moderately large riverine species endemic to the Mobile Bay drainage system of Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi. Sexual size dimorphism is pronounced, with adult females (carapace length [CL] to 273 mm) attaining more than twice the size of adult males (CL to 117 mm). The species is an inhabitant of relatively large, swift creeks and rivers, often with wide sandbars. Stream sections open to the sun and with abundant basking sites in the form of logs and brush are preferred. Six to seven clutches of 4–7 eggs are laid each year on river sandbars. Although the species is locally abundant, populations are threatened by habitat destruction, declines in their prey base, commercial collection, and vandalism. It is listed as a Species of Special Concern in Alabama.
Distribution
USA. Restricted to the Mobile Bay drainage system of Alabama, northwestern Georgia, and northeastern Mississippi.
Distribution of Graptemys pulchra in Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia in southeastern USA. Purple lines = boundaries delimiting major watersheds (level 3 hydrologic unit compartments – HUCs); red dots = museum and literature occurrence records of native populations based on Iverson (1992), plus more recent and authors' data; green shading = projected native distribution based on GIS-defined HUCs constructed around verified localities and then adding HUCs that connect known point localities in the same watershed or physiographic region, and similar habitats and elevations as verified HUCs (Buhlmann et al. 2009), and adjusted based on authors' subsequent data as well as new locality data from Lindeman (2013).
Synonymy
Graptemys pulchra Baur 1893, Malacoclemmys pulchra, Malaclemys lesueurii pulchra, Malaclemys pulchra, Graptemys pulchra pulchra.
Subspecies
None currently recognized.
Conservation Status
IUCN 2013 Red List Status: Near Threatened (NT, assessed 2011)
Legal Status
CITES: Appendix III (all Graptemys spp.; USA); US ESA: Not Listed; Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources: protected under Nongame Species Regulation; Georgia Department of Natural Resources legal status: Rare; Mississippi: no protection.
Citation
Lovich, J.E., Godwin, J.C., and McCoy, C.J. 2014. Graptemys pulchra Baur 1893 – Alabama Map Turtle. In: Rhodin, A.G.J., Pritchard, P.C.H., van Dijk, P.P., Saumure, R.A., Buhlmann, K.A., Iverson, J.B., and Mittermeier, R.A. (Eds.). Conservation Biology of Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises: A Compilation Project of the IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group. Chelonian Research Monographs No. 5, pp. 072.1–072.6, doi:10.3854/crm.5.072.pulchra.v1.2014, //iucn-tftsg.org/cbftt/.