Reptilia , Chelonii , Chelidae , Phrynops geoffroanus Schweigger , 1812 and Mesoclemmys vanderhaegei ( Bour , 1973 ) : Distribution extension , new country record , and new province records in Argentina

The Chelonii is currently represented in Argentina by 14 species of 10 genera, belonging to six families (Richard and Waller 2000). Although several authors have addressed the study of Argentinean turtle species (e.g. Freiberg 1938; 1977; Cei 1993; Cabrera 1998; Richard 1999; Richard and Waller 2000), the knowledge about natural history and geographic distribution of some species is still fragmentary. One of these poorly known species is the freshwater turtle Phrynops geoffroanus. This turtle is widely distributed in South America eastern to the Andes, in the Orinoco, Amazonas, São Francisco, and Paraná rivers basins (Iverson 1992; Souza 2005). Bertoni (1925) recorded the presence of P. geoffroanus (as Hydraspis geoffroyana) at the locality of Puerto Bertoni in the High Paraná River, Paraguay, and suggested that it was likely to occur in northeastern Argentina, in the province of Misiones; subsequently Freiberg (1938; 1970; 1977) reported the presence of P. geoffroanus in the province of Misiones. Rhodin and Mittermeier (1983) described Phrynops williamsi and mentioned the presence of this species in the Misiones, within the distribution range of P. geoffroanus. This was accepted by other authors, who suggested that P. geoffroanus was present in Argentina (Pritchard and Trebbau 1984; Ernst and Barbour 1989; Iverson 1992; Fritz and Havas 2007). Nevertheless, most of recent studies about the Argentinean turtle fauna excluded P. geoffroanus from it, based on the absence of specimens in collections, and also because previous reports were considered to be misidentification records of P. williamsi (Waller and Chebez 1987; Richard et al. 1990; Cei 1993; Cabrera 1998; Richard 1999; Richard and Waller 2000).

The Chelonii is currently represented in Argentina by 14 species of 10 genera, belonging to six families (Richard and Waller 2000).Although several authors have addressed the study of Argentinean turtle species (e.g.Freiberg 1938;1977;Cei 1993;Cabrera 1998;Richard 1999;Richard and Waller 2000), the knowledge about natural history and geographic distribution of some species is still fragmentary.One of these poorly known species is the freshwater turtle Phrynops geoffroanus.This turtle is widely distributed in South America eastern to the Andes, in the Orinoco, Amazonas, São Francisco, and Paraná rivers basins (Iverson 1992;Souza 2005).Bertoni (1925) recorded the presence of P. geoffroanus (as Hydraspis geoffroyana) at the locality of Puerto Bertoni in the High Paraná River, Paraguay, and suggested that it was likely to occur in northeastern Argentina, in the province of Misiones; subsequently Freiberg (1938;1970;1977) reported the presence of P. geoffroanus in the province of Misiones.Rhodin and Mittermeier (1983) described Phrynops williamsi and mentioned the presence of this species in the Misiones, within the distribution range of P. geoffroanus.This was accepted by other authors, who suggested that P. geoffroanus was present in Argentina (Pritchard and Trebbau 1984;Ernst and Barbour 1989;Iverson 1992;Fritz and Havas 2007).Nevertheless, most of recent studies about the Argentinean turtle fauna excluded P. geoffroanus from it, based on the absence of specimens in collections, and also because previous reports were considered to be misidentification records of P. williamsi (Waller and Chebez 1987;Richard et al. 1990;Cei 1993;Cabrera 1998;Richard 1999;Richard and Waller 2000).
We document in this work the presence of P. geoffroanus in Argentina.Three adult specimens of this species (Figures 1 and 2   Comparison with collection material allowed us to identify a hatchling specimen of Phrynops geoffroanus (Figure 3), erroneously cited as P. williamsi (Cabrera 1993;1998).This specimen was collected from a nest with seven eggs, at Puerto Valle, departamento Ituzaingó, Corrientes, on 29 January 1990, by Eduardo Franke and Alejandro Giraudo, and it is deposited in the collection of Cátedra de Anatomía Comparada, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba (C-288).We compared it with two neonates of P. williamsi from Parque Nacional Iguazú, Misiones (CIES 408-9, carapace length = 40 mm, with umbilical marks, of the Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Subtropicales, Parque Nacional Iguazú).
The hatchling of Phrynops geoffroanus has well defined dark spots in the plastron (Figure 3), which are smaller, diffuse and less conspicuous in the hatchlings of P. williamsi, which also exhibit a radial reticulated pattern on the carapace (not observed in specimen C-288).These differences are considered diagnostic characters between Phrynops williamsi and P. geoffroanus (Rhodin and Mittermeier 1983).These records are located approximately 320 airline km southwest from the nearest previous record of the species, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil (Rhodin and Mittermeier 1983).They confirm the presence and reproduction of Phrynops geoffroanus in Argentina and constitute the most southern records for the species from Paraná River basin (Figure 4).
Mesoclemmys vanderhaegei is a poorly known turtle species distributed along the Amazonas, Tocantins, Paraguay, Paraná and Uruguay rivers basins, associated to open areas of savannas (Souza 2005).This species in Argentina was recorded only for three localities of the northeast, in Santa Fe, Formosa, and Misiones provinces (Iverson 1992;Cabrera 1998;Baldo and Krauczuk 2000;Yanosky et al. 2000) (Figure 4).It was also reported for the province of Corrientes, but without locality data or voucher specimens (Richard et al. 1990;Richard and Waller 2000).We recently recorded the presence of M. vanderhaegei in Misiones and Corrientes provinces (Figure 4).An adult female (MLP DB 5281) (Figures 5 and 6    The new localities mentioned for M. vanderhaegei and P. geoffroanus are located within the Biogeographic Unit Distrito de los Campos (Giraudo et al. 2003), a transitional zone between the Atlantic Forest and the Humid Chaco ecoregions (Cabrera 1976;Dinerstein et al. 1995).The landscape in this area is characterized by rush communities and savannas, which alternate with woodlands and forest patches of Astronium balansae in a soft hilly area (Cabrera 1976;Fontana 1993;Carnevali 1994;Giraudo et al. 2003).Mesoclemmys vanderhaegei occurs in varied habitats of those landscapes, such as small streams with forest cover, lagoons and artificial ponds in grasslands.Phrynops geoffroanus inhabits riparian environments of the Paraná River, which present numerous non sedimentary islands, abrupt coasts with narrow sandy beaches, being the coastal vegetation principally composed by submerged plants (Podostemaceae), aquatic macrophytes and grassland communities of Panicum spp.and Echinochloa spp.(Carnevali 1994).

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Lateral view of the head of Phrynops geoffroanus MLP DB 5284.
) was captured with a fishing line in an artificial pond at Chacra 65 of Paraje Carpincho, Colonia Liebig, departamento Ituzaingó, Corrientes (27°51'32" S, 55°52'35" W; ca.134 m a.s.l.) on 20 August 2006.This is the first record of this species for the province of Corrientes with precise locality data.Other new records of M. vanderhaegei for the province of Misiones are an adult female (MLP DB 5282) collected at Divisa stream, at the city of Posadas, Departamento Capital (27º24' S, 55º54' W; ca.84 m a.s.l.) on 02 November 2005, and an adult photographed in a small lagoon in the surroundings of the Posadas city airport, Departamento Capital (27º24' S, 55º58' W; ca.114 m a.s.l.) on 26 July 2006.