Kehlmaier, C., U. Fritz & G. Kuchling

Show me your true face: How many Emydura species occur in the Mitchell River Drainage, Kimberley, Australia? pp. 51-59 plus Supplementary document S1, Supplementary document S2, Supplementary document S3, Supplementary document S4, Supplementary document S5, Supplementary document S6.

Abstract. We sequenced the mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) and ten nuclear loci of 20 Emydura samples from the Carson, Mitchell, and Ord River drainages to examine the taxonomic identity of turtles with variable facial coloration
from the Mitchell River. We analysed our data together with previously published sequences, including mitogenomes of crucial name-bearing type material. Our results provide evidence for the occurrence of a variably coloured single species
in the Mitchell River that harbours two deeply divergent mitochondrial lineages. One of these lineages could originate from an ancient hybridization and mitochondrial introgression from the E. subglobosa/E. tanybaraga complex. Our results
and published evidence suggest that Emydura represents a speciation continuum and that the evolutionary history of the genus is characterized by multiple hybridization and introgression events. Based on comparison with previously published
mitogenomes of type material and our present results, we conclude that E. victoriae (Gray, 1842) is a junior synonym of E. australis (Gray, 1841).

Key words. Emydura australis, Emydura victoriae, hybridization, introgression, turtles.