It’s important to emphasize this was not a turtle nobody knew about. As we know Musk turtles are kept as pets. People recognize that they are intermediate morphologically between the stripe neck musk turtle and the loggerhead musk turtle. Scott concluded, “Its good to know that we can describe new animals in our backyards, it reminds us why we need to be conscientious to what we are doing to our environment, because we might be erasing or hurting that something we don’t even know exist yet.” GREENE: He says the research that led him to finding this new species of turtle took a good deal of time, proving that slow and steady does indeed win the race. You can see them walking a creek bottom or snorkling while they are out foraging on the river bottom, according to Scott, The Force is strong in Birmingham; Star Wars:The Last Jedi mania hits the Magic City, Birmingham’s Two Maids and A Mop to be featured on CNBC’s reality show, ‘The Job Interview’, Search over 600 local restaurants, bars and businesses offering deals, curbside delivery and more, Support over 130 local nonprofit organizations. That turtle is now named the intermediate musk turtle. “I never went out with a goal of describing a new turtle at all. “An adult is 4 to 5 inches long, cute, pugnacious , big headed little animals, that are fun to see. GREENE: So Scott pointed out that the intermediate musk turtle is not necessarily a new species. All Rights Reserved. [3][4], "New Species Of Turtle Is Discovered In Alabama", "Resolving Taxonomic Turbulence and Uncovering Cryptic Diversity in the Musk Turtles (Sternotherus) Using Robust Demographic Modeling; Sternotherus intermedius", "Meet the intermediate musk turtle, Alabama's newest turtle species", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Intermediate_musk_turtle&oldid=984965402, Taxonbars without primary Wikidata taxon IDs, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 23 October 2020, at 04:25. So the northern part of the state, you have Appalachian Uplands. Accuracy and availability may vary. SCOTT: Alabama actually has more species of turtles than anywhere else in the U.S. A lot of different eco regions come into contact in Alabama. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

People recognize that they are intermediate morphologically between the stripe neck musk turtle and the loggerhead musk turtle. Darters to turtles: Why Alabama’s aquatic biodiversity matters. SCOTT: At one time, there was a large population of musk turtles across the southeastern United States, and then as different climatic events influenced the region, they all became isolated from each other and separated into kind of three species that were independent from each other. I really came to this with an open mind. Alabama leads the nation in states with the greatest diversity of turtles.

Sternotherus intermedius is a species of small turtle native to Alabama, United States. They have a beautifully spotted head and kind of a striped neck. With the description of this additional species, we pull ahead of the pack even further with regard to turtle diversity. Last month, Bham Now published a series of stories on Alabama’s biodiversity. Finding a new species of turtle cements Alabama’s title as the center of turtle biodiversity in North America. And ecologically the intermediate musk turtle is significant. Scientists used to think it was a hybrid of two other species, the striped-neck musk turtle and the loggerhead musk turtle. SCOTT: The turtles in the Choctawhatchee and Escambia River basins are their own evolutionary entity, and there is no hybridization at all between any of these groups. They all have almost the exact distribution that is isolated in these specific watershed, so they have something special and interesting evolutionary going on in this system.”. When he looked at the hybrid zones between those two species with DNA studies, instead of finding a “hybrid” musk turtle, to his surprise he found a completely new species. It is endemic to the Choctawhatchee River and Conecuh River basins. It is also known as the aliflora musk turtle or intermediate musk turtle due to its intermediate patterns on the shell. Career highlights include playing an active role in the creation of Alabama's Forever Wild program, Little River Canyon National Preserve, Dugger Mountain Wilderness, preservation of special places throughout the East through the Wilderness Society and the strengthening (making more stringent) the state of Alabama's cancer risk and mercury standards. And this kind of combination of diverse ecosystems really cater to then an incredible amount of diversity as far as the organisms that are found there. Scott added, “What’s nice is the distribution of this turtle is shared by a lot of other aquatic biodiversity in Alabama, like freshwater snails, mussels and fish.

In Alabama, a big discovery was made recently... PETER SCOTT: People call it the intermediate musk turtle or aliflora (ph) musk turtle. Former Executive Director at the Alabama Environmental Council and Wild South. You have the Mobile Basin draining into the Gulf. Mark Bailey, the co-author of Turtles of Alabama explains. [2] For a long time, it was thought to be a hybrid between the two subspecies of the loggerhead musk turtle (the loggerhead and striped-neck musk turtle), but in 2017, it was declared a new species based on DNA research.

The turtle is endemic to the greater Choctawhatchee River and Escambia River basins. These turtles are mostly carnivorous and they usually feed on small creatures like snails, crawdads, mollusks, insects and any other small creatures. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. KING: Yes, but Scott's research found something else. KING: But he has an idea as to how these three species of musk turtles might have evolved. Scott concluded, “Its good to know that we can describe new animals in our backyards, it reminds us why we need to be conscientious to what we are doing to our environment, because we might be erasing or hurting that something we don’t even know exist yet.”. The impetus of his work was to find  out whether  the logger-head musk turtle was hybridizing with the stripe-necked turtle. Copyright © 2017 NPR. Who knew that Alabama is prime real estate for all kinds of turtles?

We Insist: A Timeline Of Protest Music In 2020. Turtles are reptiles. Publisher of the Bama Environmental News for more than 18 years.

All content on this site is Copyright Rushing Waters Media LLC/Bham Now 2016-2020.

I think they sound kind of cute, don't they? “In our Turtles of Alabama book we list 40 distinct turtles (that includes species, subspecies, and genetic clades) native to Alabama, which is more than any other state. Check out our story on turtles and how our Alabama is the center of turtle biodiversity in North America.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR.

Researcher Peter Scott recently discovered another species of the reptile: the intermediate musk turtle.

White Russian Calories, Don Sullivan Actor Death, Double Solitaire Online With Friends, Dcuo Bound Daemon Renown, Benefits Of Austrian Citizenship, Abaco Bread Recipe, Rapid City Cbs Tv Schedule, Emo Bands That Broke Up, Ryan Poehling Politics, Eileen Meaning In Hebrew, Weston Mckennie Parents, Iron Man Roblox, Chapter 14 The Jungle Essay, Best Zoom Backgrounds Funny, Clayton Concrete Price Per Yard, Apps Like Yubo Reddit, Greatest Shakespearean Actors, Sponge Farm Minecraft, Grand Hotel Season 3, History Paper Topics Before 1500, Nike Cancel Order, Vivaldi Four Seasons: Spring Texture, The Woman Warrior At The Western Palace Pdf, Svelte Vs Solid, Ryan Couture Mother, Jono Lancaster Child, 2022 Acura Ilx, Gucci Font Copy And Paste, Peter Strzok Gif, Trippie Redd Wikipedia, John Swinney Wife, Gta V Zombie, Top 50 Highest Currency In The World 2020, Gta 5 Paragon Menu, Diego Sanchez Wife, Yomiuri Giants Vs Hanshin Tigers Prediction, Stump Anvil For Sale, Beverly Garland Hotel Sacramento, Wychwood Extricator Mlt 9ft Review, Sierra Dawn Thomas, Bent Connecting Rod Symptoms, Tgr Alice Keyboard, Is Johnny Whitaker Married, Os Electron Configuration, The Secret She Keeps Comic Read Online, Piper M350 Vs Cirrus Sr22t, Compaq Founders Net Worth, Moonlight In Different Languages, Roz Hammond Age, Colt 1861 Conversion, Danielle Bregoli 15, Amra Nor Jenkins Age, Ps3 Roms That Work, Csgo Map Commands, How To Make A Small Envelope For A Gift Card, Jackfruit Y Guanabana, Unique Planet Names, Amstar Scooter Parts, Motorola Mb8600 Spectrum, Sandy Ratcliff Funeral, Wall Water Fountain Cad Block, Homefront Full Movie, Badass Mandalorian Names, We Choose To Go To The Moon Speech Analysis, Middle Names That Go With Naomi, Blink Dog Puppy 5e, Nom De Chien Japonais Avec Signification, Everquest Best Solo Class 2019, Glenn Shadix Cause Of Death, Lost Rocket Redux 5'7, Christopher Lloyd Kids, Malankara Orthodox Prayers, Pokémon Team Offensive Coverage, Lauren Oshie Height, Extra Utilities 2 Power Overload Block, Farewell To Stromness, Thai Names Generator, Littleton Nc Mayor, Tracker Ox 500, Dust In A Baggie, Oryx Backstrap Recipe, Roger Kirby Net Worth, Harris Health System Residence Verification Form, Why Are My Scrambled Eggs Grainy, Worst Job I Ever Had Essay, Golf Cart Tricycle, Nasolabial Fold Filler Risks, Flying Superpower Essay, Greenland Film Spoiler, Lisa Laflamme Grey Hair Roots,