Red List of South African Species

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Least Concern (LC)
Assessors: M.D. Hofmeyr M.D. Hofmeyr Uwe Fritz Uwe Fritz
Contributors: Richard Boycott Richard Boycott
Facilitators: Graham Alexander Graham Alexander Krystal Tolley Krystal Tolley
Reviewers: Anders Rhodin Anders Rhodin Peter Paul van Dijk Peter Paul van Dijk Victor Loehr Victor Loehr Graham Alexander Graham Alexander Adriaan Jordaan Adriaan Jordaan Jody Taft Jody Taft

Rationale (Changed due to Same category and criteria)

Widespread and common throughout most of South Africa. A resilient terrapin that can adapt to harsh environmental conditions. Not currently under any significant threats, but gradual habitat loss and progressive climate change could begin to impact populations. It is currently assessed as Least Concern.

Distribution

Most localities in South Africa and Swaziland previously ascribed to Pelomedusa subrufa are now known to be that of P. galeata. This species is found in each of the nine South African Provinces, Swaziland, and in extreme southern Mozambique, but it is not known how far north its distribution extends into Limpopo, and whether its distribution overlaps with that of P. subrufa (Petzold et al. 2014, TTWG 2017). The species has not been recorded in Lesotho and it appears to be absent from the Bushmanland Bioregion in the Northern Cape Province. Boycott and Bourquin (2008) postulated that the presence of farm dams allowed Pelomedusa to expand its range into the western semi-arid regions of South Africa. Molecular evidence, however, indicates that P. galeata in western South Africa represents a separate lineage and a possible candidate species (Petzold et al. 2014, Fritz et al. 2015). It is not yet known if the range of P. galeata extends into southern Namibia or southern Botswana.

Population trend

Trend

Not much specific information is available on populations of Pelomedusa galeata, but the species is relatively common wherever it is found (Boycott and Bourquin 2008). During a study over a two-year period in the semi-arid region of the Robertson Karoo, 42 terrapins (25 males and 17 females) were captured from three dams in a 2,500 ha nature reserve (Stuart and Meakin 1983).

Threats

The main land use practices over the range of the species are livestock farming and agriculture, which holds the advantage that these terrapins often colonize artificial dams built for livestock and irrigation. Pollution of water bodies due to agricultural practices may, however,  pose a threat. The terrapins occur in a variety of wetland habitats and appear able to move overland for substantial distances, thus fragmentation of habitat is probably negligible.

Uses and trade

In some parts of Africa humans eat terrapins but there is no information available for South Africa. Trade figures for Pelomedusa are high but few live animals have been exported from South Africa over the past 16 years.

Conservation

While not a priority species for targeted conservation action, it is desirable to better understand the distribution, population status, and natural history of Pelomedusa galeata, as well as to obtain a better understanding of its occurrence and population dynamics, especially in existing protected areas across its range.

References 

[@electronic{181632,
 address = {www.iucnredlist.org},
 author = {IUCN},
 title = {The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2018-2},
 year = {2018}
}
,@electronic{3326,
 address = {www.iucnredlist.org},
 author = {IUCN},
 title = {The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2019-1},
 year = {2019}
}
,@book{10241,
 address = {Hilton, South Africa},
 author = {Boycott, R.C. and Bourquin, O.},
 publisher = {O. Borquin},
 title = {The Southern African Tortoise Book: A Guide to Southern African Tortoises, Terrapins and Turtles},
 year = {2000}
}
,@inbook{10241,
 author = {Rhodin  and Iverson  and Dijk  and Saumure  and Buhlmann  and Pritchard  and Mittermeier },
 booktitle = {Turtles of the World: Annotated Checklist and Atlas of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution, and Conservation Status (8th Ed.)},
 editor = {TTWG (Turtle Taxonomy Working Group: Rhodin, A.G.J., Iverson, J.B., Bour, R. Fritz, U., Georges, A., Shaffer, H.B. and van Dijk, P.P.)},
 pages = {1--292},
 publisher = {Chelonian Research Monographs},
 title = {Conservation Biology of Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises: A Compilation Project of the IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group},
 year = {2017}
}
,@article{113551736,
 author = {Stuart, C.T. and Meakin, P.R.},
 journal = {Journal of the Herpetological Association of Africa},
 pages = {9--11},
 title = {Notes on the Cape Terrapin, <i>Pelomedusa subrufa</i> (Pleurodira: Pelomedusidae) in the eastern Robertson Karoo},
 volume = {29},
 year = {1983}
}
,@article{113551736,
 author = {Fritz, U., Kehlmaier, C., Mazuch, T., Hofmeyr, M.D., du Preez, L., Vamberger, M. and Vörös, J.},
 journal = {Vertebrate Zoology },
 pages = {383--389},
 title = {Important new records of <i>Pelomedusa</i> species for South Africa and Ehtiopia},
 volume = {65},
 year = {2015}
}
,@article{113551736,
 author = {Fritz, U., Petzold, A., Kehlmaier, C., Kindler, C., Campbell, P., Hofmeyr, M.D. and Branch, W.R.},
 journal = {Zootaxa },
 pages = {501--522},
 title = {Disentangling the <i>Pelomedusa</i> complex using type specimens and historical DNA (Testudines: Pelomedusidae)},
 volume = {3795},
 year = {2014}
}
,@article{113551736,
 author = {Petzold, A. Vargas-Ramirez, M., Kehlmaier, C., Vamberger, M., Branch, W.R., Du Preez, L., Hofmeyr, M.D., Meyer, L., Schleicher, A., Siroky, P. and Fritz, U.},
 journal = {Zootaxa },
 pages = {523--548},
 title = {A revision of African helmeted terrapins (Testudines: Pelomedusidae: <i>Pelomedusa</i>), with descriptions of six new species},
 volume = {3795},
 year = {2014}
}
,@phdthesis{113551736,
 author = {Strydom, A.V. },
 school = {University of Stellenbosch},
 title = {Seasonal reproduction and sexual size dimorphism of the African Helmeted Turtle, <i>Pelomedusa subrufa</i> (Family Pelomedusidae)},
 year = {2001}
}
,]
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