Comparative morphology of the Euphrates soft-shelled turtle, Rafetus euphraticus (Daudin, 1802) (Reptilia, Testudines) in Southeastern Anatolia

WOS: 000076078500004Morphometric measurements and ratios were recorded in Euphrates soft-shelled turtles, Rafetus euphraticus, sampled in the Euphrates and Tigris rivers and tributaries, Southeastern Anatolia. According to nine morphometric ratios, there are clear differences between two allopatric populations of R. euphraticus, the specimens of the Tigris population being much flatter and having a wider carapace as compared with the Euphrates population. Male:female sex ratio was 2.7.1, no sexual dimorphism was present in the morphometric ratios. Rafetus euphraticus and Trionyx triunguis, which were considered congeneric in the past, differed from each other in the ratios of the carapace length/carapace width, carapace length/plane of the greatest carapace width, carapace length/plastron length, carapace length/rostrum length, carapace width/plastron length, carapace width/head width and plastron length/rostrum length