Dermatemys mawii (Central American river turtle) genome, rDerMaw1, sequence data
The Central American river turtle (Dermatemys mawii), also called the hickatee, is the only living species in the family Dermatemydidae. The species is found in the Atlantic drainages of Central America, specifically Belize, Guatemala, southern Mexico, and probably Honduras (from Wikipedia entry). This sample of a wild-caught male individual at the Saint Louis Zoo originating in Guatemala was procured by Jane Merkel and coordinated by Paul Hime to generate a high-quality reference genome for the Vertebrate Genomes Project (VGP). Sequencing and genome assembly were conducted at the Vertebrate Genome Lab (VGL) at the Rockefeller University, led by Erich D. Jarvis, Giulio Formenti, and Jennifer Balacco.