Pelodiscus shipian belongs to the genus
Pelodiscus, which was previously lumped together as a single species,
Pelodiscus sinensis. In 1991, a new species of the genus was described as
Pelodiscus axenaria, but its distinctiveness was often questioned until it was confirmed by molecular genetic studies in 2010. In 2018, Shiping Gong and colleagues discovered a genetically distinct lineage of the
Pelodiscus axenaria complex. They initially called it "lineage I", until they described it as a new species,
Pelodiscus shipian, in 2022. Some older records of
Pelodiscus axenaria may actually represent
Pelodiscus shipian. After Gong and colleagues discovered the cryptic "lineage I", another group of researchers also began collecting and studying specimens of the new lineage. They wrote a
species description, where they gave "lineage I" the name
Pelodiscus jiangxiensis. As of October 2022, the paper is only accessible as a preprint and thus doesn't have any nomenclatural value according to the
ICZN rules. The description of
Pelodiscus shipian, on the other hand, was published already in April 2022.
Phylogeny Based on
phylogenetic analyses,
Pelodiscus shipian is the
sister species of
Pelodiscus huangshanensis, with the second closest relative being
Pelodiscus axenaria. These three species constitute the
Pelodiscus axenaria complex, which forms a
clade sister to all other
Pelodiscus species. == Description ==