GEOGRAPHIC-VARIATION IN SKULL MORPHOLOGY OF THE GREEN TURTLE, CHELONIA-MYDAS, WITH A TAXONOMIC DISCUSSION

This study analyzes the geographic variation of skull morphology in th e green turtle, Chelonia mydas, including the eastern Pacific populati on sometimes recognized as C. agassizii. One hundred and forty-five sk ulls from six nesting sites (Comoros, Seychelles, Ogasawara [Japan], G alapagos [Ecuador], Tortuguero [Costa Rica], and Guyana) were measured . Samples from Comoros, Seychelles, and Guyana were greater in absolut e skull length than those from Ogasawara, Tortuguero, and Galapagos. D iscriminant analyses showed that four of the six local samples could b e completely or nearly completely classified correctly. Comoros and Se ychelles samples were not discriminated. The Galapagos sample was comp letely separated from other samples by a canonical discriminant analys is, and this result indicates distinctness of the eastern Pacific popu lation. The Galapagos sample, however, was not differentiated from the others by any character dimension relative to skull length. From thes e results, we support the recognition of the eastern Pacific populatio n as a distinct subspecies, C. mydas agassizii, but not as a distinct species.