Cranial morphology of Rafetus euphraticus (Daudin, 1801) from Southeastern Anatolia
Makaleler > Tam Makale · 1999
Yazarlar: Ertan TAŞKAVAK
Amphibia-Reptilia, Uluslararası, Scopus, 1999, cilt 20, ss 35-53
Özet
Abstract Observations on cranial morphology were made on Euphrates soft-shelled turtles, Rafetus euphraticus, sampled in the Euphrates and Tigris rivers and tributaries, Southeastern Anatolia. The vomer separates the maxillaries in half of the specimens, whereas the maxillae meet on the vomer in others. The parietal has no contribution in the formation of the foramen nervi trigemini due to the contact between the prootic and the epipterygoid. There are variations in the contacts of the basisphenoid and in the formation of the trigeminal region, a prootic-epipterygoid contact participates in the trigeminal region. The contacts of the vomer-pterygoid, the vomer-basisphenoid and the vomer-pterygoid-basisphenoid are observed in some specimens. In one specimen, the parietal contacts the opisthotic. All specimens have the symphyseal ridge, althought it is weak and barely discernible.