THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY

Reptilia    Testudines    Emydidae  

Ringed Map Turtle
Graptemys oculifera (Baur, 1890)
grap-TEH-meez — oh-KUL-ih-feh-rah

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 Previously thought to be endemic to the Pearl River system of central Mississippi and eastern Louisiana until Glorioso et al. (2024, Herpetological Conservation and Biology 19: 96-105) discovered a disjunct and genetically distinct population in a section of the Bogue Falaya, Saint Tammany Parish, Louisiana. (Taggart, Travis W. and John Carr. 2025. Testudines – Turtles. Pages 55-63 in Kirsten E. Nicholson (Editor), Scientific and Standard English Names of Amphibians and Reptiles of North America North of Mexico, with Comments Regarding Confidence in Our Understanding, 9th Edition. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Lawrence, Kansas. 87 pp.)

Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2023.04.08.21.20.37)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 0.21 MB

Province/State Distribution:
USA: Louisiana Mississippi

Taxonomic Etymology:
Named for the markings on its carapace.
Graptemys — Greek graptos = “marked” + emys = “turtle.”
oculifera — Latin oculus = “eye” + fero = “to bear” — “eye-bearing,” referring to the eye-like spots on the carapace.

First instance(s) of published English names:
Ringed Sawback Turtle (Graptemys oculifera: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.);

Taxon Links:

  
Catalog of American Amphibians and Reptiles
  
The Reptile Database
  
NatureServe
  
iNaturalist
  
GenBank
  
USGS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database

Selected References:
1890 Baur, G. Two new species of tortoises from the South. Science 16(Ser. 1):262-263
1988 McCoy, C. J. and Vogt, Richard C. Graptemys oculifera Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (422):1-2
1994 McCoy, Clarence J., Jr. and Richard C. Vogt. Graptemys. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (584):1-3
1994 Lamb, Trib, Charles Lydeard, R. B. Walker, and J. Whitfield Gibbons. Molecular systematics of map turtles (Graptemys): A comparison of mitochondrial restriction site versus sequence data. Systematic Biology 43:543-559
2017 Praschag, Peter, Flora Ihlow, Morris Flecks, Melita Vamberger, and Uwe Fritz. Diversity of North American map and sawback turtles (Testudines: Emydidae: Graptemys). Zoologica Scripta 46:675-682
2024 Selman, Will. Distribution and abundance of Graptemys oculifera (Ringed Sawback) and Graptemys pearlensis (Pearl Map Turtle) in the Pearl River system of Louisiana, USA. Herpetological Conservation and Biology 19(1):129-143
2024 Glorioso, Brad M., Will Selman, Brian R. Kreiser, and Aidan Ford. Hiding in plain sight: Federally protected Ringed Map Turtles (Graptemys oculifera) found in a new river system. Herpetological Conservation and Biology 19(1):96-105

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Wednesday 09 July 2025 13:50 CT