A little about Playa Zipolite, The Beach of the Dead . . .

Playa Zipolite, Oaxaca, Southern Mexico, on the Pacific Ocean. A little bit about my favorite little get-away on this small world of ours.

Zipolite, a sweaty 30-minute walk west from Puerto Angel, brings you to Playa Zipolite and another world. The feeling here is 1970's - Led Zep, Marley, and scruffy gringos.

A long, long time ago, Zipolite beach was usually visited by the Zapotecans...who made it a magical place. They came to visit Zipolite to meditate, or just to rest.

Recently, this beach has begun to receive day-trippers from Puerto Angel and Puerto Escondido, giving it a more TOURISTY feel than before.

Most people come here for the novelty of the nude beach, yoga, turtles, seafood, surf, meditation, vegetarians, discos, party, to get burnt by the sun, or to see how long they can stretch their skinny budget.

I post WWW Oaxaca, Mexico, Zipolite and areas nearby information. Also general budget, backpacker, surfer, off the beaten path, Mexico and beyond, information.

REMEMBER: Everyone is welcome at Zipolite.

ivan

Thursday, June 14, 2018

Official recognition for new Vallarta turtle species A small mud turtle first discovered by residents of Puerto Vallarta 20 years ago was recognized as a new species last month, but now it is also considered one of the most threatened freshwater turtles in the world.

The mud turtle found only in Puerto Vallarta.

Official recognition for new turtle species in Puerto Vallarta

Vallarta mud turtle was first discovered 20 years ago

Wednesday, June 13, 2018

A small mud turtle first discovered by residents of Puerto Vallarta 20 years ago was recognized as a new species last month, but now it is also considered one of the most threatened freshwater turtle species in the world.

The distinct looking turtle became known in the Jalisco city as casquito de Vallarta, or little Vallarta helmet, due to the shape of its shell.

Residents alerted experts some 20 years ago about the find, but they decided they were nothing more than juvenile specimens of another species.

But five years ago they gave another look at the diminutive turtle, the results of which were published on May 16 in a study entitled A Distinctive New Species of Mud Turtle from Western México in the journal Chelonian Conservation and Biology.

Studies performed on nine turtle specimens, five of them dead, led by a team of scientists from research institutions in the states of Tabasco, Jalisco, Mexico City, Guanajuato and Veracruz found that the turtle indeed belonged to a new species, Kinosternon vogti.

The Vallarta mud turtle, the largest specimens of which are 10 centimeters long, has only been found in a few human-created or human-affected habitats such as small streams and ponds found only around the resort town of Puerto Vallarta. All of the mud turtle’s currently known habitats have been damaged by urban growth.

Of the four known living specimens only one is a female. It was sent along with a male to a reproduction center in Tabasco, while the two other males remain in Puerto Vallarta.

The five turtles found dead have been deposited in a collection at the National Autonomous University of México, where they will be subject to further studies.

The Chelonian Conservation and Biology paper said “an urgent conservation program is necessary as well as explorations in the area to find viable populations of the species.”

The name of the new turtle species pays homage to Richard Vogt, a herpetologist and turtle conservationist who has studied the reptile for 40 years.

Source: Milenio (sp)