Disentangling the Pelomedusa complex using type specimens and historical DNA (Testudines: Pelomedusidae) Author Fritz, Uwe Museum of Zoology, Senckenberg Dresden, A. B. Meyer Building, 01109 Dresden, Germany uwe.fritz@senckenberg.de Author Petzold, Alice Museum of Zoology, Senckenberg Dresden, A. B. Meyer Building, 01109 Dresden, Germany Author Kehlmaier, Christian Museum of Zoology, Senckenberg Dresden, A. B. Meyer Building, 01109 Dresden, Germany Author Kindler, Carolin Museum of Zoology, Senckenberg Dresden, A. B. Meyer Building, 01109 Dresden, Germany Author Campbell, Patrick Department of Zoology, Darwin Centre (DC 1), Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, South Kensington, London SW 7 5 BD, England Author Hofmeyr, Margaretha D. Chelonian Biodiversity and Conservation, Department of Biodiversity and Conservation Biology, University of the Western Cape, Private Bag X 17, Bellville 7535, South Africa Author Branch, William R. Department of Herpetology, Port Elizabeth Museum, P. O. Box 13147, Humewood 6013, South Africa & Department of Zoology, P. O. Box 77000, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth 6031, South Africa Corresponding author. E-mail: uwe. fritz @ senckenberg. de text Zootaxa 2014 2014-05-15 3795 5 501 522 journal article 5606 10.11646/zootaxa.3795.5.1 27b8f170-95d1-4132-a493-c0b78c109163 1175-5326 4915064 3034E613-829A-4E56-A860-CA2A7C23B8FA Pelomedusa galeata damarensis Hewitt, 1935 This subspecies was based on two syntypes (shells) from “Quickborn, near Okahandja, South West Africa” [ Namibia ] ( Hewitt 1935 : p. 338). Actually, Quickborn is a farm approximately halfway between Okahandja and Otjiwarongo, Namibia . Following Mertens (1937 : p. 139) and Loveridge (1941 : p. 474), Pelomedusa galeata damarensis was later synonymized with the nominotypical subspecies of the helmeted terrapin, if the species was regarded as polytypic. Herrmann & Branch (2013 : p. 102) suggested that Pelomedusa galeata damarensis is morphologically distinctive and may deserve specific recognition. The two syntypes of Pelomedusa galeata damarensis are now in the collection of the Port Elizabeth Museum (PEM R14953–R14954) and were examined for the present study. Whilst PEM R14953 is perfectly preserved, parts of the epidermal scutes on the right carapacial margin of PEM R14954 are missing. We designate herewith the better preserved specimen PEM R14953 ( Fig. 7 , top) as lectotype of Pelomedusa galeata damarensis . Tissue for genetic investigation was extracted from both type specimens. From PEM R14953, 252 bp of the 12S rRNA gene could be successfully sequenced, whereas only 35 bp of the 12S rRNA gene and 319 bp of the cyt b gene could be generated for PEM R14954 ( Table 2 ). In phylogenetic analyses ( Fig. 1 ), the sequences of both type specimens are embedded with high support within lineage VIII of Vargas-Ramírez et al. (2010) . The oldest available name for lineage VIII is Testudo subrufa Bonnaterre, 1789 (see above), rendering Pelomedusa galeata damarensis Hewitt, 1935 a subjective junior synonym of the previous name, if lineage VIII should be regarded as taxonomically distinct.