Kinosternon vogti, 132

Kinosternon vogti López-Luna, Cupul-Magaña,
Escobedo-Galván, González-Hernández, Rangel-Mendoza,
Ramírez-Ramírez, and Cazares-Hernández 2018 –
Vallarta Mud Turtle, Casquito de Vallarta

Nadin E. López-González^1,2, Torsten Blanck², Fabio G. Cupul-Magaña¹,
Jose Rafael Nolasco-Luna^1,3,4, Peter Praschag², Marco A. López-Luna⁵,
Taggert G. Butterfield⁶, Gabriel Barrios-Quiroz⁷, and Shannon Diruzzo²

¹Centro Universitario de la Costa, Universidad de Guadalajara, Av. Universidad 203,
Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco 48280, Mexico [[email protected]; [email protected]];
²Turtle Island, Graz, Austria [[email protected]];
³Universidad Autónoma de Nayarit, Tepic, Nayarit, Mexico;
⁴Centro Nayarita de Innovación y Transferencia de Tecnología A.C., Tepic, Nayarit, Mexico [[email protected]];
⁵División Académica de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco,
Carr. Villahermosa-Cárdenas km 0.5, Villahermosa, Tabasco 86039, Mexico [[email protected]];
⁶Estudiantes Conservando la Naturaleza A.C., Plateros 5,
Álamos, 85760 Sonora, Mexico [[email protected]];
⁷Ecologia y Conservación Dharma A.C., Carr. Yahutepec-Tepoztlán km 7.5,
Barrio de Santiago Tepetlapa 62520, Tepoztlán, Morelos, Mexico [[email protected]]

Summary. – The Vallarta Mud Turtle, Kinosternon vogti (family Kinosternidae), is one of the most recently described turtle species and unfortunately also one of the most critically endangered. It is restricted to the Bahía de Banderas Valley in western Mexico, an area of only approximately 263 sq. km. It is the smallest turtle species known, with males reaching an average straight-line carapace length (SCL) of 76.4 mm, rarely exceeding 90 mm SCL and females reaching an average SCL of 78.4 mm, rarely exceeding 100 mm SCL. The species occurs in freshwater habitats and currently has a severely reduced estimated Area of Occupancy (AOO) of less than 0.3 sq. km. Courtship and oviposition occur during the rainy season (June to October). One to five eggs per clutch are laid, with up to three clutches per season. Hatchlings emerge after 100–263 days of incubation following a diapause, and measure 19–23 mm in SCL. While some conservation actions have been implemented by organizations and academic institutions, no protected habitat exists. The species has successfully reproduced in captivity since 2023, and although an in-situ Conservation Center was built in 2024 to provide an assurance colony for the species, ongoing poaching and theft of captive breeding animals have hampered conservation efforts.

Distribution. —Mexico. Endemic to Bahía de Banderas Valley, Jalisco and Nayarit.

Synonymy. — Kinosternon vogti López-Luna, Cupul-Magaña, Escobedo-Galván, González-Hernández, Rangel-Mendoza, Ramírez-Ramírez, and Cazares-Hernández 2018.

Subspecies. — None.

Status. — IUCN 2025 Red List: Critically Endangered (CR A1d+2d) (assessed 2022; Cupul-Magaña et al. 2022). CITES Appendix I (since 2022). EUCR: Annex A (since 2023). Norma Oficial Mexicana NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2019: Endangered species list (since 2019).

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