NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Mexican Spotted Wood Turtle
Rhinoclemmys rubida (Cope, 1870)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Rhinoclemmys rubida
Juan Rafael Rodríguez Razgado · CC BY 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Mexican spotted wood turtle (Rhinoclemmys rubida) or Mexican spotted terrapin is a species of turtle in the family Geoemydidae.
It is endemic to Mexico. It inhabits the Pacific slope of southern Mexico, from sea level to 1350 meters elevation.
There are two recognized subspecies. R. rubida rubida ranges inhabits Oaxaca and Chiapas, and R. rubida perixantha inhabits Jalisco, Colima, Michoacán, and Guerrero.
Wikipedia contributors, Mexican spotted wood turtle; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T12:45:56.012465+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Rhinoclemmys rubida (Cope, 1870)
- Name authority
- (Cope, 1870)
- Common name
- Mexican Spotted Wood Turtle
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Testudines
- Family
- Geoemydidae
- Genus
- Rhinoclemmys
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
- orderTestudines Batsch, 1788
- suborderCryptodira
- superfamilyTestudinoidea
- familyGeoemydidae
- genusRhinoclemmys
- speciesRhinoclemmys rubida (Cope, 1870)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Rhinoclemmys. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Painted Wood TurtleRhinoclemmys pulcherrima (Gray, 1855) | GeoemydidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Black Wood TurtleRhinoclemmys funerea (Cope, 1875) | GeoemydidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Colombian Wood TurtleRhinoclemmys melanosterna (Gray, 1861) | GeoemydidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Chocoan River turtleRhinoclemmys nasuta (Boulenger, 1902) | GeoemydidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Spotted-legged TurtleRhinoclemmys punctularia (Daudin, 1801) | GeoemydidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Chelopus rubidus Cope, 1870 Cope, 1870 | synonym |
| Geoemyda rubida perixantha Mosimann & Rabb, 1953 Mosimann & Rabb, 1953 | synonym |
| Rhinoclemmys mexicana Gray, 1870 Gray, 1870 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Rhinoclemmys&species=rubida Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:4S8B8. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.