The Conservation Status of Several Endemic Mexican Kinosternid Turtles

The goal of this project was to carry out surveys in northern and central México to locate extant populations of Kinosternon hirtipes chapalaense, K. h. magdalense, and K. h. megacephalum, evaluate their conservation status, help establish captive breeding colonies of these taxa in the near future, and collect tissues for phylogenetic studies. During 2010 and 2011, we were able to locate extant populations of 2 of the subspecies (K. h. chapalaense and K. h. magdalense), but K. h. megacephalum could not be found. We also failed to locate natural springs in a radius of approximately 60 km from the type locality (and only known locality) of K. h. megacephalum and believe that this turtle is extinct.