Editing Hickatee (section)

{{Short description|Genus of turtles}}
{{Redirect|River turtle|}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Dlouhohlávka mexická 9243u.jpg
| image_caption = In the [[Prague Zoo]]
| status = CR
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn">{{Cite iucn|author=[[Richard Vogt (herpetologist)|Vogt RC]], Gonzalez-Porter GP, Van Dijk PP|title=''Dermatemys mawii'' |year=2006 |errata =2016 |page= e.T6493A97409830|doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2006.RLTS.T6493A12783921.en|access-date=27 October 2022}}</ref>
| status2 = CITES_A2 
| status2_system = CITES 
| status2_ref = <ref name="CITES">{{Cite web|title=Appendices {{!}} CITES|url=https://cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php|access-date=2022-01-14|website=cites.org}}</ref>
| genus = Dermatemys
| parent_authority = [[John Edward Gray|Gray]], 1847<ref name=gray1847>[[John Edward Gray|Gray JE]] (1847). "Description of a new Genus of Emydæ". ''Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London'' '''1847''': 55–56. (''Dermatemys'', new genus, p. 55; ''Dermatemys Mawii'', new species, p. 56).</ref>
| species = mawii
| authority = [[John Edward Gray|Gray]], 1847<ref name=gray1847 />
| synonyms = *''Dermatemys mawii'' <br/>{{small|Gray, 1847: 56}}<ref name=gray1847 />
*''Emys berardii'' <br/>{{small|[[André Marie Constant Duméril|A.M.C. Duméril]] & [[Gabriel Bibron|Bibron]], 1851: 11}}<ref name=dum&dum1851>[[André Marie Constant Duméril|Duméril AMC]], [[Gabriel Bibron|Bibron G]] (1851). "''Emys areolata'', ''Emys berardii'', ''Cinosternon leucostomum'', ''Cinosternon cruentatum'' ". '''''In'':''' Duméril AMC, [[Auguste Duméril|Duméril AHA]] (1851). ''Catalogue Methodique de la Collection des Reptiles'' (''Museum d’Histoire Naturelle de Paris''). Paris: Gide and Baudry. 224 pp. (in French).</ref>
*''Dermatemys abnormis'' <br/>{{small|[[Edward Drinker Cope|Cope]], 1868: 120}}<ref name=cope1868>[[Edward Drinker Cope|Cope ED]] (1868). "An examination of the Reptilia and Batrachia obtained by the Orton expedition to Equador [sic] and the upper Amazon, with notes on other species". ''Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia'' '''20''': 96–140.</ref>
*''Dermatemys salvinii'' <br/>{{small|Gray, 1870: 50}}<ref name=gray1870b>Gray JE (1870). ''Supplement to the Catalogue of Shield Reptiles in the Collection of the British Museum. Part I. Testudinata (Tortoises)''. London: British Museum. 120 pp.</ref>
*''Limnochelone micrura'' <br/>{{small|[[Franz Werner|F. Werner]], 1901: 298}}<ref name=wern1901>[[Franz Werner|Werner F]] (1901). "''Neue Reptilien des Königsberger zoologischen Museums'' ". ''Zoologischer Anzeiger'' '''24''': 297–301. (in German).</ref>
| synonyms_ref = <ref name="ttwg">[[Turtle Taxonomy Working Group]] [van Dijk PP, Iverson JB, Shaffer HB, Bour R, Rhodin AGJ] (2012). "Turtles of the World, 2012 update: annotated checklist of taxonomy, synonymy, distribution, and conservation status". ''Chelonian Research Monographs'' (5):, 000.243–000.328, doi:10.3854/crm.5.000.checklist.v5.2012, [http://www.iucn-tftsg.org/wp-content/uploads/file/Accounts/crm_5_000_checklist_v5_2012.pdf].</ref>
}}

The '''hickatee''' ('''''Dermatemys mawii''''') or in Spanish '''''tortuga blanca''''' ('white turtle'), also called the '''Central American river turtle''',<ref name=vogtetal>{{cite journal |last1=Vogt |first1=RC |author-link1=Richard Vogt (herpetologist) |last2=Polisar |first2=J. R. |last3=Moll |first3=Don |last4=Gonzalez-Porter |first4=Gracia |date=2011 |title=''Dermatemys mawii'' Gray 1847 – Central American River Turtle, Tortuga Blanca, Hickatee, ''in'' Conservation Biology of Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises: A Compilation Project of the IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group |url=https://iucn-tftsg.org/wp-content/uploads/file/Accounts/crm_5_058_mawii_v1_2011.pdf |editor1-last=Rhodin |editor1-first=AGJ |editor2-last=Pritchard |editor2-first=P. C. H. |editor2-link=Peter Pritchard |editor3-last=van Dijk |editor3-first=P. P. |editor4-last=Samure |editor4-first=R. A. |editor5-last=Buhlmann |editor5-first=K. A. |editor6-last=Iverson |editor6-first=J. B. |editor7-last=Mittermeier |editor7-first=R. A. |editor7-link=Russell Mittermeier |journal=Chelonian Research Monographs |volume=5 |issue=58 |pages=1–11 |doi=10.3854/crm.5.058.mawii.v1.2011}}</ref> is the only living [[species]] in the [[Family (biology)|family]] [[Dermatemydidae]]. The species is found in the Atlantic drainages of Central America, specifically [[Belize]], [[Guatemala]], southern [[Mexico]], and probably [[Honduras]]. It is a relatively large-bodied species, with records of {{convert|60|cm|in|abbr=on}} straight [[carapace]] length and weights of {{convert|22|kg|lb|abbr=on}}; although most individuals are smaller. This is a [[herbivorous]] and almost completely aquatic turtle that does not even surface to bask. Bizarrely for reptiles, the eggs can remain viable even after being underwater for weeks -in the recent past, some scientists mistakenly claimed it nests underwater, likely due to visiting Central America during a frequent flood, when nests are often submerged.

In the culture of the [[Ancient Maya]]n civilisation this species and turtles in general had numerous uses such as being used in warfare, as musical instruments and as food, with this species likely being consumed by the elites during feasts. The Maya probably exported these turtles to areas where they do not occur, based on their shell remains in kitchen middens. There is genetic evidence that the Mayans and other ancient peoples may have hunted the turtle to [[local extinction]] in areas it now occurs in, and that some modern turtle populations stem from turtles introduced into waterways from elsewhere. The turtle also had mythological symbolism, although the true nature of Ancient Mayan myth has been largely obscured by time. Among the modern communities inheriting this land the turtle continues to be eagerly sought as a dish eaten during important cultural events. The meat of this turtle is said to be very tasty. It has thus had a long history of exploitation.

This has prompted Western conservationists to declare this use unsustainable, and that the turtle is now '[[critically endangered]]', especially singling out the people of [[Tabasco]] as the culprits. In Belize, the only country where it is still legal to hunt these animals, it is still common in some areas, but populations are depressed in areas where people live. In Mexico the state of the population is unclear -it was said to be almost extirpated from Mexico in 2006 based on an entry in a book from the 1970s, but reasonable amounts are still caught in areas such as Tabasco and [[Quintana Roo]]. In Guatemala the species is abundant in some areas, but uncommon elsewhere.

Although in the 1990s scientists dismissed breeding this species as impracticable, it is now known they can reproduce in even quite poor waters, and as a generalist herbivorous species [[fodder]] costs are low. Much has been discovered regarding their [[animal husbandry]], with some US scientists now musing that commercial breeding might be cost effective using experimental [[polyculture]] systems with the turtles as a secondary income source. The Mexican government already stimulated the farming of this species in the 2000s, there are now likely a few thousand kept in captivity there. The health of these captive animals is not ideal, and the success of these operations is unclear.