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Nucleotide sequences for the complete mitochondrial control region (1158 bp) were used to determine the phylogenetic relationships among populations of the yellow mud turtle, Kinosternon flavescens (Kinosternidae). Phylogenetic analysis of the mtDNA sequences reveals a polyphyletic K. flavescens with three distinct clades: (1) K. flavescens of the Central Plains, including isolated populations of Illinois and Iowa, (2) K. arizonense in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona and Mexico, and (3) K. durangoense in the Chihuahuan Desert of Durango, Coahuila, and Chihuahua, Mexico. Sequence divergence and nucleotide diversity calculations support a hypothesis of Great Plains K. flavescens dispersal and subsequent isolation of populations in the Midwest related to climatic change during the Pleistocene. (C) 2000 Academic Press.