CHELONIAN CONSERVATION AND BIOLOGY International Journal of Turtle and Tortoise Research Genetic and Morphological Variation Between Populations of the Pascagoula Map Turtle (Graptemys gibbonsi) in the Pearl and Pascagoula Rivers with Description of a New Species 1,2 2 1 1 1 JOSHUA R. ENNEN ,JEFFREY E. LOVICH ,BRIAN R. KREISER ,W.SELMAN , AND CARL P. Q UALLS 1Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, Mississippi 39406 USA [
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[email protected]]; 2US Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Science Center, Northern Arizona University, Applied Research and Development Building, PO Box 5614, Flagstaff, Arizona 86011 USA [
[email protected]] Chelonian Conservation and Biology, 2010, 9(1): 98–113 g 2010 Chelonian Research Foundation Genetic and Morphological Variation Between Populations of the Pascagoula Map Turtle (Graptemys gibbonsi) in the Pearl and Pascagoula Rivers with Description of a New Species 1,2 2 1 1 1 JOSHUA R. ENNEN ,JEFFREY E. LOVICH ,BRIAN R. KREISER ,W.SELMAN , AND CARL P. Q UALLS 1Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, Mississippi 39406 USA [
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[email protected]]; 2US Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Science Center, Northern Arizona University, Applied Research and Development Building, PO Box 5614, Flagstaff, Arizona 86011 USA [
[email protected]] ABSTRACT. – Cryptic or undescribed species pose a major problem in conservation biology. Managing multiple unresolved taxa collectively as a single entity could precipitate the loss of unrecognized genetic variation and unique populations and, possibly, lead to extinction of undiscovered or unrecognized taxa.