Northern snake-necked turtle
Northern snake-necked turtle | |
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Chelodina rugosa | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Order: | Testudines |
Suborder: | Pleurodira |
Family: | Chelidae |
Genus: | Chelodina |
Subgenus: | Chelydera
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Species: | C. rugosa
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Binomial name | |
Chelodina rugosa Ogilby, J.D., 1890[2]
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Distribution of C. (M) rugosa in Australia and New Guinea. | |
Synonyms[6][7] | |
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The northern snake-necked turtle or northern long-necked turtle (Chelodina (Chelydera) rugosa) is a species of turtle in the family Chelidae or Austro-South American Side-necked Turtles. It is native to northern Australia and southern New Guinea.
The species was described in 1890 from material collected in Cape York of
It is not an aggressive species with a biting defense. Individuals tend to flail to escape rather than bite. This species can be found not only in fresh water, but due to the proximity of the south New Guinea coast and close off shore islands, it also can be found in brackish water. Chelodina rugosa tends to hide under and between rocks and logs where possible or buries itself in the mud to act as an ambush predator to fish, amphibian, and invertebrate prey. Sexual dimorphism is quite evident in this species. Females can be easily recognized by the very short, stubby tail.
Taxonomic history
This species has had a rather convoluted taxonomic history. Initially described in 1841 by John Edward Gray
Subspecies are recognised by some for this species, basically geographic variants of doubtful significance. However, these are Chelodina (Chelydera) rugosa from Queensland and Chelodina (Chelydera) siebenrocki from New Guinea.[6][14]
Etymology
The specific name, siebenrocki, is in honor of Austrian herpetologist Friedrich Siebenrock.[15]
Reproduction
Like all turtles, the northern snake-necked turtle is oviparous. Unlike any other turtle, however, C. rugosa lays her eggs underwater. Aboriginal Australians have had knowledge of this reproductive behavior for many generations, but the first published report was by Kennett et al. in 1993.[16] Nests are excavated in soft substrate in billabongs and other ephemeral bodies of slow-moving fresh water toward the end of the wet season (austral summer, Dec-April). An average of 12 eggs are buried under 6–20 cm of sediment in shallow (<2 m) water. As the dry season progresses and the waters recede, the nests eventually dry out, and only then - when atmospheric oxygen is available[17] - do the embryos within the eggs resume growth. Exhibiting a reproductive strategy almost unique among reptiles, embryos of C. rugosa can survive at least 12 weeks of submersion. The hatchlings emerge approximately 70 days after resumption of development.[16]
Gallery
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Chelodina oblonga description
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Chelodina oblonga niclos v testudines org 003 004 ful
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Chelodina oblonga head and neck
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Chelodina oblonga niclos v testudines org 003 002 ful
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Chelodina oblonga niclos v testudines org 003 003 ful
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Chelodina oblonga head detail, Baby less than one year
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Chelodina oblonga draw pencil
References
- . Retrieved March 28, 2020.
- ^ .
- .
- ^ Fry, Dene B. (1915). "On a new Chelodina from Australia, with a key to the genus". Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland. 27 (1): 88–90.
- Australian Journal of Herpetology, Supplemental Series. 1: 1–61.
- ^ PMID 30967590.
- ^ .
- ^ Gray, John Edward. (1841). A catalogue of the species of reptiles and amphibia hitherto described as inhabiting Australia, with a description of some new species from Western Australia, and some remarks on their geographical distribution. In: Grey, G. Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery in Northwest and Western Australia. London: T. and W. Boone, Vol. 2. Appendix E, pp. 422–449.
- ^ Boulenger, G.A. 1889. Catalogue of the Chelonians, Rhynchocephalians, and Crocodiles in the British Museum (Natural History) London: Trustees of the Museum, 311pp.
- ^ Thomson, S. (2000). "The identification of the holotype of Chelodina oblonga (Testudines: Chelidae) with a discussion of taxonomic implications". Chelonian Conservation and Biology. 3 (4): 745–748.
- ^ a b Thomson, S. A. (2006). "Chelodina rugosa Ogilby, 1890 (currently Macrochelodina rugosa; Reptilia, Testudines): proposed precedence over Chelodina oblonga Gray, 1841". Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature. 63 (3): 187–193.
- ^ Cogger, H.G., Cameron, E.E. and Cogger, H.M. (1983). Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Volume 1. Amphibia and Reptilia. Australian Government Printing Service, Canberra. 313pp.
- S2CID 82200268.
- ^ Shea, G., Thomson, S. & Georges, A. 2020. The identity of Chelodina oblonga Gray 1841 (Testudines: Chelidae) reassessed. Zootaxa 4779(3): 419–437. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4779.3.9. PDF
- ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Chelodina siebenrocki, p. 243).
- ^ a b Kennett, R., Christian, K. & Pritchard, D. 1993. Underwater nesting by the tropical freshwater turtle, Chelodina rugosa (Testudinata: Chelidae). Australian Journal of Zoology 41:47-52. doi:10.1071/zo9930047
- ^ Kennett, R., Georges, A. & Palmer-Allen, M. 1993. Early developmental arrest during immersion of eggs of a tropical freshwater turtle, Chelodina rugosa (Testudinata: Chelidae), from Northern Australia. Australian Journal of Zoology 41:37-45. doi:10.1071/zo9930037
External links
- Asian Turtle Trade Working Group (2000). "Chelodina rugosa ssp. siebenrocki". . Retrieved 16 November 2021.
- Testudines.org catalog project (2015). 'Chelodina oblonga. 2016 >Turtles and tortoise Catalog. Readed 18 December 2016.
- Video of a Northern Snake-necked Turtle in the wild on Youtube