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Reptilia    Testudines    Emydidae  

False Map Turtle
Graptemys pseudogeographica (Gray, 1831)
grap-TEM-ees — sue-doe-jee-oh-GRA-fuh-kuh

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 Lindeman et al. (2015, Herpetological Review 46: 179–185) demonstrated that G. pseudogeographica from the Calcasieu River drainage in southwestern Louisiana differs from other populations in having a unique eye color and variable chin pattern. They made no taxonomic recommendations.

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: - 2.39 MB

Province/State Distribution:
USA: Arkansas Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Nebraska New York North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma South Dakota Tennessee Texas Virginia Wisconsin

First instance(s) of published English names:
Pseudo-geographic Tortoise (Emys pseudogeographica: De Kay, James E. 1842. Zoology of New-York, or, The New-York Fauna: Comprising Detailed Descriptions of All the Animals Hitherto Observed within the State of New-York, with Brief Notices of those Occasionally Found Near its Borders, and Accompanied by Appropriate Illustrations. Volume 1, Part 3 (Reptiles and Amphibians). W. & A. White & J. Visscher, Albany, New York. pp.); Sharp-backed Emys (Emys pseudogeographica: Gray, John E. 1856. Catalogue of shield reptiles in the collection of the British Museum. Part I. Testudinata (Tortoises). Taylor and Francis, London, England. 79pp.); LeSueur's Map Turtle (Malacoclemmys pseudogeographicus: Jordan, David Starr. 1876. Manual of the Vertebrates of the Northern United States: Including the District East of the Mississippi River, and North of North Carolina and Tennessee, Exclusive of Marine Species. Jansen, McClurg, and Company, Chicago, Illinois.. 342pp.); LeSueur's Map Turtle (Malacoclemmys pseudogeographicus: Jordan, David S. 1878. Manual of the Vertebrates of the Northern United States: Including the District East of the Mississippi River, and North of North Carolina and Tennessee, Exclusive of Marine Species. Second Edition, Revised, and Enlarged. Jansen, McClurg & Company, Chicago. pp.); Le Sueur's Map Turtle (Malacoclemmys pseudo-geographicus: Davis, N. S., and Frank L. Rice. 1883. List of Batrachia and Reptilia of Illinois. Bulletin of the Chicago Academy of Sciences 1(3):25–32); LeSueur's Map Tortoise (Malaclemys pseudo-geographica: Hay, Oliver P. 1892. Batrachians and Reptiles of the State of Indiana. Pages 409-624 in 17th Annual Report of the Indiana Department of Geology and Natural Resources, William B. Burford, Printer and Binder, Indianapolis, Indiana. pp.); Koh's Terrapin (Malacoclemmys kohnii: Beyer, George. 1900. Louisana herpetology. Proceedings of the Louisiana Society of Naturalists 1897-1899():24-46); Map Turtle (Malaclemys lesueuri: Hurter, Julius. 1911. Herpetology of Missouri. Transactions of the Academy of Science St. Louis 20(5):59-274); Saw-back Turtle (Malaclemys lesueuri: Hurter, Julius. 1911. Herpetology of Missouri. Transactions of the Academy of Science St. Louis 20(5):59-274); False Map Turtle (Graptemys pseudogeographica: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); MIssissippi Sawback Turtle (Graptemys pseudogeographica kohni: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Bayou Map Turtle (Graptemys pseudogeographica kohni: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Le Sueur's Map Turtle (Graptemys pseudogeographica pseudogeographica: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Midland Sawback Turtle (Graptemys pseudogeographica pseudogeographica: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); False Map Turtle (Graptemys pseudogeographica pseudogeographica: 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:
1831 Gray, John E. Synopsis Reptilium or short descriptions of the species of reptiles. Part I: Cataphracta. Tortoises, crocodiles, and enaliosaurians. Treuttel, Wurtz, and Company, London, England. 85pp.
1974 Dundee, Harold A. Evidence for specific status of Graptemys kohni and Graptemys pseudogeographica. Copeia 1974(2):540-542
1991 Collins, Joseph T. Amphibians and reptiles in the upper Mississippi river valley: Systematic and distributional problems. Journal of the Tennessee Academy of Science 66(4):149-152
1992 McCoy, Clarence J., Jr. and R. C. Vogt. Graptemys kohnii in the Pearl River: An alternative explanation. Herpetological Review 23(1):28
1993 Vogt, Richard C. Systematics of the False Map Turtles (Graptemys pseudogeographica complex: Reptilia, Testudines, Emydidae) Annals of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History 62(1):1-46
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
1995 Vogt, Richard C. Graptemys pseudogeographica. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (604):1-6
2002 Seidel, Michael E. Hemoglobin variation and comments on systematic relationships in the turtle family Emydidae. Copeia 2002(4):1118-1121
2015 Lindeman, P. V., I. Louque, C. Hutzinger, E. Lyons, S. H. Shively, and W. Selman. Eye color and chin pattern in the turtle Graptemys pseudogeographica in the Calcasieu River drainage of Louisiana, with comparison to adjacent drainages. Herpetological Review 46:179-185
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
2020 Smith, Haley, Stan Galicki, and Will Selman. Three’s company: Observations of a nonnative Map Turtle (Graptemys pseudogeographica) occurring syntopically with two endemic Graptemys in the Pearl River, Mississippi Chelonian Conservation and Biology 19(2):268–276

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Friday 13 June 2025 04:20 CT