Data from: Disentangling the Pelomedusa complex using type specimens and historical DNA (Testudines: Pelomedusidae)

Recent research has shown that the helmeted terrapin (Pelomedusa subrufa), a species that occurs throughout sub-Saharan Africa, in Madagascar and the southwestern Arabian Peninsula, consists of several deeply divergent genetic lineages. Here we examine all nominal taxa currently synonymized with Pelomedusa subrufa (Bonnaterre, 1789) and provide mitochondrial DNA sequences of type specimens or topotypic material for most taxa. Lectotypes are designated for Testudo galeata Schoepff, 1792, Pentonyx capensis Duméril & Bibron, 1835, Pelomedusa nigra Gray, 1863, Pelomedusa galeata var. disjuncta Vaillant & Grandidier, 1910, and Pelomedusa galeata damarensis Hewitt, 1935. For Pelomedusa gasconi Rochebrune, 1884, a taxon without preserved type material, a neotype is designated. Type material of Pentonix americana Cornalia, 1849, a nominal species without credible type locality, is lost and its identity remains questionable. Also the holotype of Pelomedusa galeata orangensis Hewitt, 1935 is lost, but its allocation to the only genetic lineage occurring in South Africa is unambiguous. Phylogenetic analyses of type sequences or topotypic material reveal that the remaining nominal taxa represent three of the nine previously identified lineages of Pelomedusa. Among these three lineages is the South African one. Type specimens of Pentonyx gehafie Rüppell, 1835 correspond to an additional distinct lineage. The present study provides a sound basis for a subsequent integrative taxonomic revision of the Pelomedusa complex.Fritz_2014_Pelomedusa_Zootaxa_Supporting InformationSupporting Information TABLE S1. Used samples, GenBank sequences and their accession numbers. TABLE S2. Primer sequences for mtDNA fragments for fresh samples. Nucleotides in brackets represent variable positions. TABLE S3. Primer sequences and lengths of amplified PCR products of mtDNA fragments of the 12S, cyt b and ND4 genes for historical DNA samples. TABLE S4. PCR conditions for historical and fresh samples. TABLE S5. Degree of overlap for individual mtDNA fragments yielding 251–252 bp of the 12S rRNA gene. TABLE S6. Degree of overlap for individual mtDNA fragments yielding 319 bp of the cyt b gene. TABLE S7. Degree of overlap for individual mtDNA fragments yielding 437 bp of the ND4 gene. TABLE S8. Partitioning scheme and models selected by the Akaike Information Criterion in MrMODELTEST 2.3 (Nylander 2004).Fritz_2014_Pelomedusa_Zootaxa_Supporting_Information.pd