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First report of Terrapene mexicana (Testudines: Emydidae) from the state of

Nuevo León, Mexico

Article · June 2017

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Daniel B. Wylie Christoph Grünwald

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Other Contributions Distribution Notes

Reptilia: Testudines
First report of Terrapene mexicana (Testudines: Emydidae)
from the state of Nuevo León, Mexico
The Mexican Box Turtle, Terrapene mexicana, is one of five species in its genus found in Mexico (Legler and Vogt,
2013). This species has been recorded in the coastal plain and associated piedmont (Huasteca) of the Atlantic ver-
sant of the country, in the states of Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosí, and Veracruz, and has been hypothesized to occur
in adjacent Nuevo León (Legler and Vogt, 2013). A recent review of the herpetofauna of Nuevo León (Névarez-de
los Reyes et al., 2016) did not include T. mexicana in the list of species in the state. Herein we report a specimen of
T. mexicana from Nuevo León, and provide comments on the distribution of this species in northeastern Mexico.
Terrapene mexicana (Gray 1849). MEXICO: NUEVO LEÓN: Municipio de Monterrey: 8 km S of Monterrey
(25.596311°, -100.261125°); elev. 585 m; 31 June 1949; W. L. Burger. The specimen (UIMNH 9994; Fig. 1A, B),
an adult female, represents the first record of T. mexicana from the state of Nuevo León, and extends the known
distribution 228 km to the NNW of the nearest record at Padilla, Tamaulipas (Legler and Vogt, 2013). While it is
unclear exactly where 8 km S of Monterrey would be because of the expansion of the metropolitan area, our anal-
ysis of aerial photographs from the 1950s suggests that the southern extension of Monterrey was at or very near
the intersections of Highway 40 and Highway 54. The Río La Silla crosses the highway 8.0 km S of this junction,
and falls at the locality we indicate herein. This area is the most tropical and most mesic section of the otherwise
relatively dry metropolitan area of Monterrey.
A second record from Nuevo León, UIMNH 33172, was collected in September of 1940 from “South Nuevo
León” by Edward H. Taylor (Fig. 2A, B). Unfortunately, more precise collection data are not available for this
specimen; however, Taylor collected other material about the same time from the vicinity of Linares. This second
record supports the validity of Monterrey record, and confirms that T. mexicana should be considered a member of
the herpetofauna of Nuevo León.

A B

Fig. 1. (A) Lateral and (B) ventral views of UIMNH 9994 from 8 km S of Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico.
' © Daniel B. Wylie

Mesoamerican Herpetology 486 June 2017 | Volume 4 | Number 2

 Other Contributions Distribution Notes

A B

Fig. 2. (A) Lateral and (B) ventral views of UIMNH 33172 from “South of Nuevo León,” Mexico. ' © Daniel B. Wylie

Acknowledgments.—We thank the late W. Leslie Burger for his extraordinary field collecting activities and
for his insurmountable contributions to the University of Illinois Museum of Natural History Collection. We also
are grateful to Jacobo Reyes-Velasco for verifying the identification of the specimen.

Literature Cited

Legler, J. M., and R. C. Vogt. 2013. The Turtles of Mexico:
Land and Freshwater Forms. University of California Press,
Berkeley, California, United States.
Névarez-De Los Reyes, Manuel, David Lazcano, Eli García-
Padilla, Vicente Mata-Silva, Jerry D. Johnson, and Larry
D. Wilson. 2016. The herpetofauna of Nuevo León, Mexico:
composition, distribution, and conservation. Mesoamerican
Herpetology 3: 557–638.

Daniel B. Wylie1 and Christoph I. Grünwald2,3,4

1
Illinois Natural History Survey, Prairie Research Institute, 1816 South Oak Street, Champaign, Illinois 61820, United
States.
Biencom Real Estate, Carretera Chapala - Jocotepec #57-1, C.P. 45920, Ajijic, Jalisco, Mexico.
2

E-mail: cgruenwald@switaki.com
3
Biodiversa A. C., Avenida de la Ribera #203, C.P. 45900, Chapala, Jalisco, Mexico.
Herpetological Conservation International, Mesoamerica Division, 450 Jolina Way, Encinitas, California 92024,
4

United States.

Mesoamerican Herpetology 487 June 2017 | Volume 4 | Number 2

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