Note on a Historical Specimen of ‘Kinosternon integrum’ Field Collected from Jalapa, Veracruz, Mexico

Abstract

Following the neotype designation and morphological revision by Joseph-Ouni et al. (2025), the Guanajuato Mud Turtle Kinosternon integrum LeConte, 1854 has now been restricted in its distribution to the central Mexican states. Until relatively recently, even under its sensu lato concept, K. integrum was not known to definitively occur in the Mexican state of Veracruz; de la Torre-Loranca et al. (2020) made note of the first known field discovered specimens referable to that taxon/complex from oak forest ponds in Ocotepec and the Sierra de Agua. Here we report on a yearling specimen of a kinosternid morphologically attributable to the sensu lato concept of K. integrum but that is not identifiable to species level, collected by E.R. Dunn in 1921 from the vicinity of Jalapa, Veracruz. Growing evidence indicates that the Atlantic versant of Mexico harbors a unique but latent undescribed species in the K. integrum species complex (pers. obs.).