Damonia crassiceps Gray 1870
Creators: name: Dawson, Jeffrey E.
name: Anders, Ben
name: Bettelheim, Matthew
name: Ihlow, Flora
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Testudines
Cryptodira
Geoemydidae
Damonia
Damonia crassiceps

description: Material examined— Malayemys khoratensis: 15 live specimens (Thailand) from the dataset of Ihlow et al. (2016); Malayemys macrocephala: THNHM 21364, THNHM 24984, THNHM 25295, and 48 live specimens (Thailand) from the dataset of Ihlow et al. (2016); Malayemys subtrijuga: 21 live specimens (Cambodia) from the dataset of Ihlow et al. (2016); Mauremys nigricans: FMNH 15902 and 11 live specimens (United States) from the dataset of Iverson & McCord (1989), MTD D 25623, MTD D 25624, MTD D 25684, MTD D 28456, MTD D 28484, MTD D 28989, MTD D 31851, MTD D 39157, MTD D 39795, MTD D 42496, MTD D 45358, 2 live specimens (China), and 3 live specimens (Germany). All handling of live animals for the current study was conducted in accordance with the policies of the Museum of Zoology, Senckenberg Dresden. Captive animals from private collections were examined with permission and remained the property of the respective owners.
Expanded description of D. crassiceps
— Carapace oblong and slightly flared posteriorly; low domed and somewhat depressed, with an interrupted central keel; rear margin entire except for a distinct caudal notch; vertebral scutes broader than long; conspicuous growth annuli on each carapacial scute. Bridge with a single axillary scute and much larger inguinal scute. Plastron narrower than the opening of the shell; plastral formula: IAB> IP> IF> IG> IAN> IH; IP seam much (over 4X) longer than the IH seam; anal notch wide. Head very large and wide; eyes lateral; snout conical and projecting slightly; upper jaw unhooked and without a medial notch; tomia not denticulate. Legs covered in small scales, with larger oblong scales on the toes and anterior of the lower forearms; toes fully webbed. Tail moderately long; base wide; tapering to the tip; covered in numerous small scales dorsally, and larger square scales ventrally; cloacal opening near the posterior margin of carapace.
Coloration: Carapace brown, darker in areas of annuli, with dark central smudges on the vertebral and costal scutes; ventral side of marginals black in color, with multiple light-colored rays on each anterior scute, and a single broad triangular light ray in the center of each posterior scute. Bridge predominately black, with a bright red patch on each inguinal scute. Plastron horn-colored with irregular dark blotches on each scute. Top of head dark gray; iris light with dark spots around the reddish sclera; head entirely lacking any light-colored supraorbital, infraorbital, or nasal stripes, but with two fine cream-colored postocular stripes extending roughly parallel across the tympanic region and onto neck; jaws and chin reddish, with dark vermiculations and spots in front and below the eye and along the rear of the rhamphotheca; lower lateral side of the head stippled with faint cream-colored irregular spots; throat reddish with four dark streaks. Exposed portions of limbs mostly gray, with large dark red scales on the anterior of forelimbs; undersides and recessed areas of skin suffused with red.
description: Published as part of Dawson, Jeffrey E., Anders, Ben, Bettelheim, Matthew & Ihlow, Flora, 2025, Damonia crassiceps Gray, 1870, a junior synonym of Mauremys nigricans (Gray, 1834) (Testudines: Geoemydidae), pp. 445-450 in Zootaxa 5609 (3) on page 446, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5609.3.10, http://zenodo.org/record/15215126