First record of Mesoclemmys tuberculata (Reptilia, Testudines, Chelidae) in the Cerrado area of Minas Gerais state, southeastern Brazil

Abstract

Mesoclemmys tuberculata is a turtle species that is distributed in northeastern Brazil, recorded mainly in the Caatinga and at some localities in the Atlantic Forest and Cerrado. In this paper we report the first species record in an area of Cerrado of Minas Gerais state, and it is the only known state record in a specific location. During field sampling, a specimen of M. tuberculata was collected in the municipality of João Pinheiro, northwest state, in a Cerrado nuclear area in the São Francisco river basin. The locality of this record is the southern and western limits of M. tuberculata’s known distribution, as well as the most inland locality of species record in the Cerrado biome.

Keywords

• Cerrado
• Chelidae
• geographic distribution
• Mesoclemmys tuberculata
• Minas Gerais