Texas spiny softshell turtle

The Texas spiny softshell turtle (Apalone spinifera emoryi) is a subspecies of the spiny softshell turtle in the family Trionychidae. The subspecies is native to the southwestern United States and adjacent northeastern Mexico.

Texas spiny softshell turtle
Conservation status
Apparently Secure  (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Testudines
Suborder:	Cryptodira
Family:	Trionychidae
Genus:	Apalone
Species:	A. spinifera
Subspecies:	A. s. emoryi
Trinomial name
Apalone spinifera emoryi (Agassiz, 1857)
Synonyms[2]
List Aspidonectes emoryi Agassiz, 1857 Trionyx emoryi — Strauch, 1862 Aspidonectes emyda Gray, 1870 Aspidonectes georgii Gray, 1870 Platypeltis emoryii [sic] — Baur, 1893 (ex errore) Platypeltis emoryi — Siebenrock, 1909 Amyda emoryi — Stejneger & T. Barbour, 1917 Amyda emoryii — Strecker, 1927 Amyda ferox emoryi — Neill, 1951 Trionyx ferox emoryi — Schmidt, 1953 Trionyx spinifer emoryi — A. Schwartz, 1956 Trionyx spinifera emoryi — Minton, 1959 Trionyx spiniferus emoryi — Wermuth & Mertens, 1961 Trionyx spiniferus emoryir [sic] Honegger, 1982 (ex errore) Apalone spinifera emoryi — Ernst & R. Barbour, 1989 Apalone spinifera emoryi — Stubbs, 1989

Etymology

The subspecific name, emoryi, is in honor of United States Army officer and surveyor William Hemsley Emory.^[3]

Geographic range

A. s. emoryi is found in western Texas and New Mexico, in the Rio Grande and its immediate tributaries, and in the Mexican states of Coahuila and Tamaulipas.^[4]