Table 4.

Diagnostic morphological features of adults of Pelodiscus species.

	P. axenaria	P. maackii	P. parviformis	P. sinensis	P.variegatus sp. n.
Maximum carapace length (in cm)	20	more than 35	16	23	23
Prevalent carapace color	yellowish brown	olive brown to dark brown	yellowish brown	olive green to olive gray	yellowish brown
Carapace pattern	blurred dark mottling with indistinct stellate spots and ill-defined half oval blotches around perimeter of leathery margin	fine dark-edged yellowish to orange spots, background sometimes dark-mottled	dark marbling with indistinct stellate spots and ill-defined half oval blotches around perimeter of leathery margin	none or small, irregular black blotches and vermiculations or small, faint stellate spots	complex dark marbling, large, irregularly disposed black stellate spots and half oval blotches around perimeter of leathery margin
Prevalent plastron color	yellowish white	white to straw yellow	yellowish white	snow white to pinkish white	pinkish white to pale reddish orange
Plastral pattern	a single dark gray central figure enclosed by hypo- and xiphiplastra, underside of leathery margin of carapace unmarked	no pattern, underside of leathery margin of carapace unmarked	no pattern, underside of leathery margin of carapace unmarked	no pattern or relatively small, faint round to oval dark markings, underside of leathery margin of carapace unmarked	distinct, large dark blotches, underside of leathery margin of carapace pigmented
Head and neck pattern	numerous fine dark brown to black markings, pre- and postocular stripes thin and discontinuous	fine dark-edged yellowish to orange spots, pre- and postocular stripes thick, edged in yellowish white	numerous fine dark brown to black markings, pre- and postocular stripes thin and discontinuous	a few scattered dark and light markings, pre- and postocular stripes of medium thickness, sometimes accentuated with white	numerous fine dark brown to black markings edged in yellowish white, pre- and postocular stripes thick
Throat pattern	minuscule, indistinct yellowish white spots	large light, dark-edged markings	minuscule, barely discernible black spots	small whitish spots or large light, dark-edged markings	large light, dark-edged markings
Carapace tuberculation	dorsal tubercles in longitudinal series more or less discrete, central tubercle in front of marginal ridge of carapace small	tubercles restricted to leathery margin, central tubercle in front of marginal ridge of carapace distinct	dorsal tubercles in longitudinal series more or less discrete, central tubercle in front of marginal ridge of carapace small	dorsal tubercles in longitudinal series more or less discrete, central tubercle in front of marginal ridge of carapace small	dorsal tubercles more or less fused with one another in longitudinal series, central tubercle in front of marginal ridge of carapace indistinct
Medial keel	high	low, carapace flat or longitudinally depressed in middle	high	low, carapace evenly arched or longitudinally depressed in middle	high