First Assessment of Mitochondrial DNA Diversity in the Endangered Nile Softshell Turtle, Trionyx triunguis, in the Mediterranean

Abstract

We assessed mitochondrial DNA diversity in Trionyx triunguis from the Mediterranean basin (22 samples) and continental Africa (4 samples). The continental African group comprised 4 different and newly described haplotypes, while the Mediterranean group consisted of only 1 previously known haplotype, with the nucleotide divergence between the 2 groups being 1.5% +/- 0.7%.