Variation of the Sicilian pond turtle, Emys trinacris, is described, based on morphological data of more than 200 adult and immature turtles and mtDNA sequences of 31 new known-locality specimens. Emys trinacris is morphologically more variable than thought before. There exist pronounced population-specific differences. Adults are barely distinguishable from Emys orbicularis galloitalica. Hatch...

Understanding the mechanisms by which widely disjunct members of a clade came to occupy their current distribution is one of the fundamental challenges of biogeography. Here, we used data from 7 nuclear and 1 mitochondrial gene to examine the phylogenetic and biogeographic history of Emys, a clade of turtles that is broadly disjunct in western and eastern North America and Europe. We found stro...

The phylogeny and phylogeography of Emys orbicularis was inferred from mitochondrial nucleotide sequences of the cytochrome b gene analysed by DNA sequencing and RNA heteroduplex analysis. Within the family Emydidae the monotypic genus Emys is affiliated with the nearctic taxa Emydoidea blandingii and Clemmys marmorata. The analysis of 423 individuals of E. orbicularis, originating throughout i...

The Veleka River in SE Bulgaria is amongst the northernmost localities of coexistence of Emys orbicularis and Mauremys rivulata, the two native freshwater turtles. This linear structure provides a rare opportunity to study whether the species separate across a seemingly similar habitat. In 2010–2014, we sampled by boat 5.5 km of the river near its mouth. We collected 64 localities with observat...

The 10 extant species of emydine turtles represent an array of morphological and ecological forms recognizable and popular among scientists and hobbyists. Nevertheless, the phylogenetic affinities of most emydines remain contentious. Here, we examine the evolutionary relationships of emydine turtles using 2092 bp of DNA encoding the mitochondrial genes cyt b, ND4, and adjacent tRNAs. These data...

Since 1999, introduced Trachemys scripta elegans from artificial and natural water bodies in the Po plain (North Italy) were bacteriologically screened. From 2001 onwards, a survey of Emys orbicularis was started in the same area. 15 carcasses and 349 cloacal swabs from T. s. elegans, and 100 cloacal swabs from E. orbicularis have been studied. Most samples yielded positive bacteriological resu...

We present a comprehensive multigene phylogeny and time tree for the turtle family Emydidae. Our phylogenetic analysis, based on 30 nuclear and four mitochondrial genes (23,330 total base pairs) sequenced for two individuals for each of the currently recognized species of the subfamily Emydinae and two species from each of the more species-rich Deirochelyinae genera, yielded a well-supported tr...

the coastal areas of the caspian sea are geographically unique and provide habitats for different flora and fauna. one of the remarkable inhabitants of this area is the european pond turtle, emys orbicularis (linnaeus, 1758), about which very little is known. in our study thirty seven (37) adult males of e. orbicularis have been identified in the golestan, mazandaran, ardebil, and east azerbaij...

Prevalence and intensity of the intracellular Heamogregarine parasites (Haemogregarina stepanowi) was investigated in two species of freshwater turtles in Iran. Blood smears were collected from the European pond turtle (Emys orbicularis) and the Caspian pond turtle (Mauremys caspica), air dried and stained by Giemsa. Prevalence and mean intensity of parasitemia in turtles of each locality were ...

Detection of Salmonella in pet turtles has been the focus of extensive research, but its incidence in free living turtles is not well known. The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence of Salmonella in terrestrial and aquatic species of chelonians inhabiting a National Park in southwestern Spain. Individuals of the terrestrial tortoise Testudo graeca (n = 16) and the aquatic turtles Emy...