Publications

kinematics of aquatic and terrestrial prey capture in terrapene carolina, with implications for the evolution of feeding in cryptodire turtles.	studies of aquatic prey capture in vertebrates have demonstrated remarkable convergence in kinematics between diverse vertebrate taxa. when feeding in water, most vertebrates employ large-amplitude hyoid depression to expand the oral cavity and suck in water along with the prey. in contrast, vertebrates feeding on land exhibit little or no hyoid depression. in this study we compared the kinematics of terrestrial and aquatic prey capture within one species of turtle, terrapene carolina, in order ...	1998	9658591
buccal oscillation and lung ventilation in a semi-aquatic turtle, platysternon megacephalum.	movements of the hyobranchial apparatus in reptiles and amphibians contribute to many behaviors including feeding, lung ventilation, buccopharyngeal respiration, thermoregulation, olfaction, defense and display. in a semi-aquatic turtle, platysternon megacephalum, x-ray video and airflow measurements from blowhole pneumotachography show no evidence that above water hyobranchial movements contribute to lung inflation, as in the buccal or gular pump of amphibians and some lizards. instead, hyobran ...	2001	16351827
the complete mitochondrial genome of the enigmatic bigheaded turtle (platysternon): description of unusual genomic features and the reconciliation of phylogenetic hypotheses based on mitochondrial and nuclear dna.	the big-headed turtle (platysternon megacephalum) from east asia is the sole living representative of a poorly-studied turtle lineage (platysternidae). it has no close living relatives, and its phylogenetic position within turtles is one of the outstanding controversies in turtle systematics. platysternon was traditionally considered to be close to snapping turtles (chelydridae) based on some studies of its morphology and mitochondrial (mt) dna, however, other studies of morphology and nuclear ( ...	2006	16464263
complete mitochondrial genome of chinese big-headed turtle, platysternon megacephalum, with a novel gene organization in vertebrate mtdna.	the mitochondrial genome of the chinese big-headed turtle, platysternon megacephalum, was obtained using polymerase chain reaction (pcr). the entire mtdna sequence, the longest mitochondrial genome in turtles reported so far, is 19161 bp. this mitochondrial genome exhibits a novel gene order, which greatly differs from that of any other vertebrates. it is characterized by four distinctive features: 1) the translocation of a gene cluster including three trna genes (trnahis, trnaser, trnaleu(cun)) ...	2006	16842936
fourteen nuclear genes provide phylogenetic resolution for difficult nodes in the turtle tree of life.	advances in molecular biology have expanded our understanding of patterns of evolution and our ability to infer phylogenetic relationships. despite many applications of molecular methods in attempts at resolving the evolutionary relationships among the major clades of turtles, some nodes in the tree have proved to be extremely problematic and have remained unresolved. in this study, we use 14 nuclear loci to provide an in depth look at several of these troublesome nodes and infer the systematic ...	2010	19913628
arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury, and selenium levels in blood of four species of turtles from the amazon in brazil.	using blood as a method of assessing metal levels in turtles may be useful for populations that are threatened or endangered or are decreasing. in this study the levels of arsenic (as), cadmium (cd), chromium (cr), lead (pb), mercury (hg), and selenium (se) in blood of four species of turtles from the tributaries of the rio negro in the amazon of brazil were examined. the turtles included the six-tubercled amazon (river) turtle (podocnemis sextuberculata), red-headed amazon (river) turtle (podoc ...	2010	19953418
the anatomy of the respiratory system in platysternon megacephalum gray, 1831 (testudines: cryptodira) and related species, and its phylogenetic implications.	we discuss the morphology of the respiratory system regarding the phylogenetic relation among selected testudines (tetrapoda: amniota). lung structure and the associated coelomic organization are compared in platysternon megacephalum and in representatives of the most-likely closely related taxa chelydridae and testudinoidea (emydidae+testudinidae). p. megacephalum shows horizontal intrapulmonary septation in the medial chambers, dividing them into dorsal and ventral lobes. this structure is fou ...	2010	20044019
development of 19 dinucleotide microsatellite markers from the enriched library of platysternon megacephalum.		2011	21267645
new species of falcaustra (nematoda: kathlaniidae) in platysternon megacephalum (testudines: platysternidae) from china.	falcaustra taimoshanensis n. sp. (ascaridida, kathlaniidae) from the feces of platysternon megacephalum (testudines; platysternidae) is described and illustrated. falcaustra taimoshanensis n. sp. represents the 32nd oriental species assigned to the genus and is distinguished from other species by the distribution pattern of the caudal papillae (6 precloacal, 2 adcloacal, 12 postcloacal, and 1 median), length of spicules (765-791 µm), and presence of 1 pseudosucker.	2012	22150287
demographic evidence of illegal harvesting of an endangered asian turtle.	harvesting pressure on asian freshwater turtles is severe, and dramatic population declines of these turtles are being driven by unsustainable collection for food markets, pet trade, and traditional chinese medicine. populations of big-headed turtle (platysternon megacephalum) have declined substantially across its distribution, particularly in china, because of overcollection. to understand the effects of chronic harvesting pressure on big-headed turtle populations, we examined the effects of i ...	2013	23869813
recombination and evolution of duplicate control regions in the mitochondrial genome of the asian big-headed turtle, platysternon megacephalum.	complete mitochondrial (mt) genome sequences with duplicate control regions (crs) have been detected in various animal species. in testudines, duplicate mtcrs have been reported in the mtdna of the asian big-headed turtle, platysternon megacephalum, which has three living subspecies. however, the evolutionary pattern of these crs remains unclear. in this study, we report the completed sequences of duplicate crs from 20 individuals belonging to three subspecies of this turtle and discuss the micr ...	2013	24367563
isolation and characterization of 14 polymorphic microsatellite loci in the big-headed turtle (platysternon megacephalum).	the big-headed turtle (platysternon megacephalum) is critically endangered because of overharvesting, illegal trade, and habitat destruction. assessment of genetic variability in existing populations becomes very important to the taxonomy and conservation of this species. here we describe 14 microsatellite loci isolated from an enriched genomic library of the big-headed turtle, and the polymorphisms of these loci were assessed in 28 individuals from huizhou, heyuan, zhaoqing, and shaoguan of gua ...	2014	24449181
haemogregarines of freshwater turtles from southeast asia with a description of haemogregarina sacaliae sp. n. and a redescription of haemogregarina pellegrini laveran and pettit, 1910.	the uniform morphology of the developmental stages of haemogregarina species and the insufficient information supplied by the simplistic descriptions of previous authors complicates their differential diagnosis and proper species identification. in this study, we detected haemogregarina spp. in 6 out of 22 (27.2%) examined turtles originating from southeast asia, malayemys subtrijuga (n = 4), sacalia quadriocellata (n = 1) and platysternon megacephalum (n = 1), and compared them with the availab ...	2015	25736219
husbandry and propagation of the chinese big-headed turtle (platysternon megacephalum) at the wildlife conservation society's prospect park zoo.	turtles worldwide are facing increasing pressures on their wild populations and many are listed as endangered or critically endangered. chinese big-headed turtles (platysternon megacephalum) are currently listed on iucn's red list as endangered and on cites appendix ii. as part of the wildlife conservation society's initiative on turtle and tortoise conservation, this species became a focus for propagation at prospect park zoo (ppz) in 2008. ppz successfully bred and obtained eggs, with successf ...	2016	26881912
diet of the endangered big-headed turtle platysternon megacephalum.	populations of the big-headed turtle platysternon megacephalum are declining at unprecedented rates across most of its distribution in southeast asia owing to unsustainable harvest for pet, food, and chinese medicine markets. research on asian freshwater turtles becomes more challenging as populations decline and basic ecological information is needed to inform conservation efforts. we examined fecal samples collected from p. megacephalum in five streams in hong kong to quantify the diet, and we ...	0	27994979
single-molecule long-read transcriptome profiling of platysternon megacephalum mitochondrial genome with gene rearrangement and control region duplication.	platysternon megacephalum is the sole living representative of the poorly studied turtle lineage platysternidae. their mitochondrial genome has been subject to gene rearrangement and control region duplication, resulting in a unique mitochondrial gene order in vertebrates. in this study, we sequenced the first full-length turtle (p. megacephalum) liver transcriptome using single-molecule real-time sequencing to study the transcriptional mechanisms of its mitochondrial genome. nd5 and nd6 anti-se ...	2018	30200821
detecting coevolution of positively selected in turtles sperm-egg fusion proteins.	physically interacting sperm-egg proteins have been identified using gene-modified animals in some mammal species. three proteins are essential for sperm-egg binding: izumo1 on the sperm surface, and juno and cd9 on the egg surface. most proteins linked to reproductive function evolve rapidly among species by positive selection, and have correlated evolutionary rates to compensate for changes on both the sperm and egg. up to now, interactions between sperm and egg proteins have not been identifi ...	2019	30790628
draft genome of the big-headed turtle platysternon megacephalum.	the big-headed turtle, platysternon megacephalum, as the sole member of the monotypic family platysternidae, has a number of distinct characteristics including an extra-large head, long tail, flat carapace, and a preference for low water temperature environments. we performed whole genome sequencing, assembly, and gene annotation of an adult male big-headed turtle based on the illumina hiseq x genomic sequencing platform. we generated ~497.1 gb of raw sequencing data (×208.9 depth) and produced ...	2019	31097710
the complete mitochondrial genome of platysternon megacephalum peguense and molecular phylogenetic analysis.	platysternon megacephalum is the only living representative species of platysternidae and only three subspecies remain: p. m. megalorcephalum, p. m. shiui, and p. m. peguense. however, previous reports implied that p. m. peguense has distinct morphological and molecular features. the characterization of the mitogenome has been accepted as an efficient means of phylogenetic and evolutionary analysis. hence, this study first determined the complete mitogenome of p. m. peguense with the aim to iden ...	2019	31252631
observations on carapace color change in the juvenile big-headed turtle (platysternon megacephalum).	the carapace color of newborn big-headed turtles (platysternon megacephalum) is polymorphic and usually consists of two phenotypes: yellowish brown and olive green. as the turtles grew, over the first year of life, its carapace gradually turned from yellowish brown to chestnut brown, or from olive green to dark brown, depending on the phenotype. meanwhile, the turtle's plastron remained an orange and black pattern and did not change much. in this study, we primarily used he staining to observe t ...	2019	31388471
unique multiple paternity in the endangered big-headed turtle (platysternon megacephalum) in an ex situ population in south china.	understanding the mating system and reproductive strategies of an endangered species is critical to the success of captive breeding. the big-headed turtle (platysternon megacephalum) is one of the most threatened turtle species in the world. captive breeding and reintroduction are necessary to re-establish wild populations of p. megacephalum in some of its historical ranges in china, where the original populations have been extirpated. however, the captive breeding of p. megacephalum is very dif ...	2019	31534700