*Definitions are given in relation to map turtles. There may be other meanings for these words.*
A
Aquaculture – the practice of raising aquatic organisms for commercial purposes i. e. turtle farmers.
Allometry – changes in body proportions or color with increasing size.
Allopatric – occurring in separate non-overlapping geographical areas, such as G. caglei is allopatric to G. versa.
Alluvial river– a type of river where the bed and banks are made up of mobile sediment or soil that has channels and floodplains, such as the Pearl River.
B
Bergmann’s rule – populations and species of larger size are found in colder environments, while populations and species of smaller size are found in warmer regions.
Bivalve – a type of aquatic mollusk (invertebrate) with a compressed body (shell) and a hinge such as clams, oysters, mussels, and scallops.
Blackwater River – a type of river that flows through forested swamps and has a lot of submerged debris from rotting vegetation. The water is usually dark and molluscs are mostly unsuccessful. Megacephalic map turtles usually do not inhabit blackwater rivers and waterways.
C
Captive-bred – when an organism is hatched or birthed in captivity from parents that bred/mated in captivity.
Captive-hatched – when an organism is hatched or birthed in captivity from a female parent taken from the wild that bred/mated in the wild.
Conspecific – belonging to the same species, such as G. p. pseudogeographica is conspecific to G. p. kohnii.
Clinal variation – gradual change of a trait over a gradient. Example: Sabine map turtles have a greater carapace length (by average) near the coast as opposed to upstream populations.
Clutch size – the number of eggs laid by a single female at one time.
Cryptic species – a new species that is found and described from within another species, such as Graptemys pearlensis (2010) was a cryptic species found and described within Graptemys gibbonsi.
D
Double clutching – amphibians and reptiles that produce two clutches of eggs or offspring in a single season.
E
Emydid – a turtle within the Family Emydidae i.e. map turtles, sliders, cooters, etc.
Endemic – native and restricted to a particular place, such as a river system, i.e. G. caglei is endemic to the Guadalupe River system.
Epibiont – an organism that lives on top of another organism.
Epiphenomenon – a secondary symptom or byproduct of a process.
F
F0 vs. F1 vs F2 generations – The F0 generation is typically the founding stock, such as wild-caught individuals. F1 is the generation produced from the F0 parents. The F2 generation is the generation produced by the F1 parents.
G
Gifting – The act of giving another individual an item, such as a turtle, with no monetary or trade compensation (meaning the giver receives no compensation of any kind).
H
Herpetoculture – the captive husbandry and propagation of amphibians and reptiles in captivity as a hobby or for commercial purposes.
Husbandry – the care, cultivation, and breeding of plants and animals in captivity.
Hybrid – the product of breeding two different species successfully.
Hypoallometric – less than equal dimensions
I
Intergrade – the product of breeding two different subspecies successfully. This is a naturally occurring circumstance along the intersection of two defined subspecies. Turtles from this region usually share traits of both subspecies or most resemble one or the other species.
Isometric – having equal dimensions
J
K
L
M
Megacephaly – having a large head i.e. G. barbouri, G. ernsti, etc. in the case of female map turtles.
Mesocephaly -having a medium-shaped head i.e. G. caglei, G. versa in the case of female map turtles.
Microcephaly – having a small head i. e. G. sabinensis, G. flavimaculata in the case of female map turtles.
Molluscivorous – feeds on mollusks
Morph – a form or structure, for example having black-eyes is a different morph of G. p. kohnii.
Morphological traits -characters of form or structure that define a morph, such as possessing a transverse bar on the chin is a morphological trait of G. caglei.
Morphology – the study of form or structure.
Morphometrics – measurable (quantitative) parameters of form or structure, such as the pigment width on the marginal scutes is one type of morphometrics.
N
O
Ontogenetic – the development or changes in an individual from egg/infant to adult.
P
Paraphyly – a group that contains its last common ancestor, but not all the descendants of that ancestor
Pheromone – a chemical produced by an individual and released into the environment to signal other individuals of the same species for a specific intent such as to attract mates, mark territories, or leave a scent trail.
Phylogenetics – the evolutionary relationships within or between groups.
Phylogenetic tree – a diagram showing the evolutionary relationships within or between groups with line segments and branching.
Phylogeny – The relationships of groups of organisms according to their evolutionary history.
Pivotal temperature – the constant temperature that eggs are incubated at to produce 50 % male and 50% female offspring.
Polyphyly – a group whose members come from multiple ancestral sources, regardless of similarity of characteristics
Q
R
Rensch’s rule – size dimorphism increases with increasing body size when the male is the larger sex, and decreases with increasing average body size when the female is the larger sex.
S
Spongivorous – specializing in eating sponges (freshwater in case of the map turtles). This is the primary diet of the microcephalic species.
Spring-fed river – a type of river fed by one or many spring heads or an aquifer. The water is usually relatively clear and water temperature does not fluctuate as much as in other rivers due to the release of spring water at a constant temperature.
Sympatric – occurring within the same geographical area such as G. flavimaculata is sympatric with G. gibbonsi in the Pascagoula River.
Syntopic – occurring in the same microhabitat.
T
TSD (temperature-dependent sex determination) – an environmental sex determination where the sex of the organism is determined by the temperature of the larvae/egg during incubation. In Graptemys, higher temperatures produce females and lower temperatures produce males.
Turtle plinking – the despicable act of shooting turtles off of logs, rocks or any other basking platform for sport.
U
V
W
X
Y
Z