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SBSC hosts visiting scientist from México for international research collaboration

By Southwest Biological Science Center September 22, 2023

The Southwest Biological Science Center is pleased to be hosting an expert on Méxican turtle ecology. Dr. Rodrigo Macip-Rios is a professor at the Escuela Nacional de Estudios Superiores Unidad Morelia (School for Higher Studies) and at the Universidad Nacional Atónoma de México (National Autonomous University of México).

Dr Rodrigo Macip weighing an endemic mud turtle, Kinosternon chimalhuaca, in Emiliano Zapata, Jalisco, México
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Dr. Rodrigo Macip is an authority on Méxican turtle ecology. He is currently a visiting scientist at USGS, Southwest Biological Science Center's Flagstaff's campus. Here he is weighing a turtle, Kinosternon chimalhuaca, in Emiliano Zapata, Jalisco. Kinosternon chimalhuaca is an endemic species of mud turtle from the coast of Jalisco, México.

Dr. Macip-Rios is a visiting scientist spending a one-year sabbatical working with Dr. Jeff Lovich, an SBSC research ecologist who is an authority on turtles and tortoises. They will collaborate on several research projects during Dr. Macip-Rios’ time in Flagstaff, Arizona. In addition, Dr. Macip-Rios is finishing a book on turtles of México and working on a project on the evolution of aestivation (dormancy) in turtles.

Dr Rodrigo Macip with students, checking traps for mud turtles in the Pátzcuaro lake, Michoacán, México.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Dr. Rodrigo Macip with students, checking traps for mud turtles at Pátzcuaro lake, Michoacán, México.
An endemic Sonora Mud Turtle (Kinosternon sonoriense) basks in the sun at Montezuma Well
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
A Sonora Mud Turtle (Kinosternon sonoriense) basks in the sun at Montezuma Well, AZ. Kinosternon sonoriense are found only in aquatic habitats in the southwestern United States and northwestern México. They are listed on the IUCN Red List and some subspecies are listed as critically imperiled. Photo by Charles Drost, USGS, SBSC.
A Sonora Mud Turtle (Kinosternon sonoriense) hatchling, Montezuma Well, next to a quarter for a similar size comparison
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
A Sonora Mud Turtle (Kinosternon sonoriense) hatchling, Montezuma Well, with a quarter for a size comparison. Photo by Charles Drost, USGS, SBSC.

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