Ouachita Map Turtle Graptemys ouachitensis  Cagle, 1953
An adult specimen from Linn County, Kansas Image © Suzanne L. Collins, 2001
Taxonomic Comments:
Stephens, Patrick R. and John J. Wiens (2003, Ecological Diversification and Phylogeny of Emydid Turtles. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 79: 577-610) indicated that the two subspecies of ouachitensis were not closely related. This agrees with the earlier work of Ward (1980), who suggested that the two subspecies, ouachitensis and sabinensis, were distinct species. Lindeman (2003 Chelonian Conservation and Biology 4(3): 564-568) presented new morphological evidence for separating this species from G. pseudogeographica in the lower Tennessee River drainage.