KYPHOSIS IN THE SOUTHWESTERN POND TURTLE Actinemys pallida (EMYDIDAE) FROM BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO

Jorge Heriberto Valdez Villavicencio; Brayan E. León-Serrano; Anny Peralta-García

doi:10.22201/fc.25942158e.2024.1.866

Authors

Jorge Heriberto Valdez Villavicencio Fauna del Noroeste, A.C. http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9612-0303
Brayan E. León-Serrano Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Ensenada, Baja California, C.P. 22860, México.
Anny Peralta-García Conservación de Fauna del Noroeste A.C., Ensenada, Baja California, C.P. 22800, México.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22201/fc.25942158e.2024.1.866

Keywords:

caparace, malformations, turtles

Abstract

Kyphosis is a physical condition defined as a dorsally convex deformity of the spine in the sagittal plane of the animal. During monitoring surveys of the southwestern pond turtle Actinemys pallida in Arroyo San Rafael, Baja California, we found two kyphotic individuals. Of 220 pond turtles captured at this site in several years, these two turtles were the only ones found with this type of malformation, representing low prevalence of this condition.

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