Turtles of the World: Annotated Checklist of Taxonomy and Synonymy, 2009 Update, with Conservation Status Summary

We continue our annual compilation of an annotated checklist of the recognized and named taxa of the world’s modern chelonian fauna, documenting recent changes and controversies in nomenclature, and including all primary synonyms. We expand our analysis by also providing a conservation status summary of the number of threatened species of turtles. This list is an updated version of our previous checklists, published first by the Turtle Taxonomy Working Group (2007b) and then by Rhodin et al. (2008). We strive to record the most recent justified assignment of terminal taxa in a hierarchical framework, and for some taxonomic placements we show alternative arrangements, while for others we provide reasoned judgments as to whether or not we accept recently proposed changes. The list should provide an impetus for future work aimed at clarifying and resolving areas of taxonomic disagreement and/or uncertainty, and will be updated periodically with new versions published as necessary—this version is current as of 1 December 2009. The diversity of turtles and tortoises in the world that have existed in modern times (since 1500 AD), and currently generally recognized as distinct and included on this checklist, consists of 333 species, of which 58 are polytypic, with 127 additional recognized subspecies, or 460 total taxa of modern turtles and tortoises. Of these, nine species and one subspecies, or 10 taxa, have become extinct. As of the current 2009 IUCN Red List, 131 turtle species (out of 212 species assessed) are officially listed as globally threatened (Critically Endangered, Endangered, or Vulnerable). Based on the slightly different taxonomy in this checklist, 134 species (40.2% of all 333 turtle species) are considered threatened, with another nine provisionally assessed as threatened, yielding ca. 43.2% of all turtles threatened. Based on additional draft Red List assessments and including Extinct in the Wild and Extinct species, 48.3% of all modern turtles are either extinct or threatened with extinction.