Content area
Full text
ABSTRACT. - Hydromedusa maximiliani is a freshwater turtle endemic to the Atlantic Forest of eastern and southeastern Brazil and threatened by extinction. Here, we add 15 new locality records for this species based on photographs of specimens encountered in the field and examination of museum collections. We also used ecological niche modeling tools of 3 different algorithms (GARP, SVM, and Maxent) to suggest potential suitable areas for the occurrence of the species. Models predict 53,679-263,844 km^sup 2^ of suitable habitat for H. maximiliani, with 8396-31,758 km^sup 2^ inside protected areas. Besides being useful in a reassessment of the species' conservation status, our results contribute to the knowledge of distribution patterns of H. maximiliani and highlight potential areas to drive future field surveys.
KEY WORDS. - Reptilia; biogeography; conservation; ecological niche; freshwater turtle; geographic distribution; species distribution model
Hydromedusa maximiliani (Mikan 1825) is a small freshwater turtle species endemic to the Atlantic Forest of eastern and southeastern Brazil (Iverson 1992; Souza and Martins 2009). Individuals inhabit clear and cold-water streams with sandy and rocky bottoms (Souza and Martins 2006, 2009), from coastal rivers below 100 m to water bodies above 600 m elevation (Souza 2005; Souza and Martins 2009).
Anthropogenic threats, including habitat loss and water pollution, are the main factors affecting populations of H. maximiliani (Souza and Martins 2009). This species is considered Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List, although its evaluation needs updating (Tortoise & Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group 1996). It is not included in the Brazilian Red List (Ministe'rio do Meio Ambiente 2014), but is considered locally threatened in the states of Esp'?rito Santo (Secretaria de Estado de Meio Ambiente e Recursos H'?dricos [SEAMA] 2005; Almeida et al. 2007) and Minas Gerais (Conselho de Pol'?tica Ambiental [COPAM] 2010). In the first edition of the List of Endangered Species of the state of Minas Gerais, H. maximiliani was considered Critically Endangered (COPAM 1995; Moreira 1998). Following the latest review of that list, the species' conservation status was changed to Vulnerable on account of its discovery in previously unknown localities (Fundac2ao Biodiversitas 2007).
We present new locality records for H. maximiliani and use ecological niche modeling tools to predict additional areas with suitable habitats for its occurrence. These new...