Snake neck turtles

Snake neck turtles
Giant snake neck turtle ( Chelodina expansa )
Systematics
without rank: Amniotes (Amniota) without rank: Sauropsida Order : Turtles (Testudinata) Subordination : Turn-Neck Turtles (Pleurodira) Superfamily : Cheloides Family : Snake neck turtles
Scientific name of the  superfamily
Cheloides
JE Gray , 1825
Scientific name of the  family
Chelidae
Gray , 1825

The snake neck turtles (Chelidae) are a family of the turn- neck turtles (Pleurodira).

Appearance

Like all aquatic turtles, they have a flattened shell. Your belly armor ( plastron ) consists of nine bone plates. As a turn-of-the-neck, they hide their head with a typical S-shaped, horizontal bend in the armor. In some genera - such as the Australian snake- necked tortoises ( Chelodina ) and the fringed tortoise ( Chelus fimbriatus ) - the neck is longer than the trunk. With them, the eyes sit far in front over the snout, an adaptation to their aquatic way of life.

distribution

Snake neck turtles are the only turtles found in Australia besides the Papuan softshell turtle. They are also found in New Guinea and South America .

Systematics

So far, 59 species from 15 genera of the snake neck turtle have been described, which are assigned to three subfamilies:

Smooth-backed snake-necked turtle ( Chelodina longicollis )

New Guinea snapping turtle ( Elseya novaeguineae )

White-bellied snapping turtle ( Elseya branderhorsti )

Red-bellied pointed-headed turtle ( Emydura subglobosa )

• Subfamily Chelodininae Baur, 1893
  • Genus Australian snake neck turtles ( Chelodina Fitzinger, 1829) (including Macrochelodina & Macrodiremys )
    • Chelodina burrungandjii Thomson, Kennett & Georges , 2000 ( Syn . : Macrochelodina burrungandjii )
    • Chelodina canni McCord & Thomson , 2002
    • Narrow-breasted snake-necked turtle ( Chelodina colliei Gray , 1856, Syn .: Macrodiremys colliei )
    • Giant snake neck turtle ( Chelodina expansa Gray , 1857, Syn .: Macrochelodina expansa )
    • Chelodina gunaleni McCord & Joseph-Ouni , 2007
    • Kuchling's snake neck turtle ( Chelodina kuchlingi Cann , 1997, Syn .: Macrochelodina kuchlingi ; named after Gerald Kuchling )
    • Smooth-backed snake-necked turtle ( Chelodina longicollis ( Shaw , 1794))
    • McCord's snake neck turtle ( Chelodina mccordi Rhodin , 1994)
    • New Guinea snake-necked turtle ( Chelodina novaeguineae Boulenger , 1888)
    • Seven-rock snake-necked turtle ( Chelodina oblonga Gray , 1841, Syn .: Macrochelodina oblonga )
    • Spotted snake neck turtle ( Chelodina parkeri Rhodin & Mittermeier , 1976, Syn .: Macrochelodina parkeri )
    • Pritchard's snake neck turtle ( Chelodina pritchardi Rhodin , 1994)
    • Reimann snake neck turtle ( Chelodina reimanni Philippen & Grossmann , 1990)
    • Steindachner's snake necked turtle or Western Australian snake necked turtle ( Chelodina steindachneri Siebenrock , 1914)
    • Chelodina walloyarrina ( McCord & Joseph-Ouni , 2007, Syn .: Macrochelodina walloyarrina )
  • Genus Australian snapping turtles ( Elseya Gray, 1867)
    • Elseya albagula Thomson, Georges & Limpus, 2006
    • White-bellied snapping turtle ( Elseya branderhorsti (Ouwens, 1914))
    • Elseya tortoise ( Elseya dentata (Gray, 1863))
    • Elseya flaviventralis Thomson & Georges, 2016
    • Irwin's turtle ( Elseya irwini Cann, 1997)
    • Gulf snapping turtle ( Elseya lavarackorum (White & Archer, 1994))
    • New Guinea snapping turtle ( Elseya novaeguineae (Meyer, 1874))
    • Elseya rhodini Thomson, Amepou, Anamiato & Georges, 2015
    • Schultze's snapping turtle ( Elseya schultzei (Vogt, 1911))
  • Genus Elusor Cann & Legler, 1994
    • Mary River turtle ( Elusor macrurus Cann & Legler, 1994)
  • Genus pointed-headed turtles ( Emydura Bonaparte, 1836)
    • Broad-brimmed pointed-headed turtle ( Emydura macquarii (Gray, 1830))
    • Red-bellied pointed-headed turtle ( Emydura subglobosa (Krefft, 1876))
    • North Australian pointed-headed turtle ( Emydura tanybaraga Cann, 1997)
    • Victoria pointed-headed turtle ( Emydura victoriae (Gray, 1842))
  • Genus Flaviemys Le et al., 2013
    • Manning snapping turtle ( Flaviemys purvisi (Wells & Wellington, 1985))
  • Genus Myuchelys Thomson & Georges, 2009
    • Bell's snapping turtle ( Myuchelys bellii (Gray, 1844))
    • Bellinger snapping turtle ( Myuchelys georgesi (Cann, 1997))
    • Broad-breasted snapping turtle ( Myuchelys latisternum (Gray, 1867))
  • Genus Pseudemydura Siebenrock, 1901
    • False pointed-headed turtle ( Pseudemydura umbrina Siebenrock, 1901)
  • Genus Rheodytes Legler & Cann, 1980
    • Fitzroy turtle ( Rheodytes leukops Legler, 1980)

Spiny- necked pond turtle ( Acanthochelys spixii )

Fringed tortoise
( Chelus fimbriatus )

Hilaire's toad head turtle ( Phrynops hilarii )

Red-headed flat turtle ( Platemys platycephala )

• Subfamily Chelinae Gray, 1825
  • Genus South American pond turtles ( Acanthochelys Gray, 1873)
    • Pantanal pond turtle ( Acanthochelys macrocephala (Rhodin, Mittermeier & McMorris, 1984))
    • Chaco pond turtle ( Acanthochelys pallidipectoris (Freiberg, 1945))
    • Radiant pond turtle ( Acanthochelys radiolata (Mikan, 1820))
    • Spiny- necked pond turtle ( Acanthochelys spixii (Spix, 1824))
  • Genus Chelus Duméril, 1805
    • Fringed tortoise or Mata-Mata ( Chelus fimbriatus (Schneider, 1783))
    • Chelus orinocensis Vargas-Ramírez et al., 2020
    • † Chelus columbiana Wood, 1976
    • † Chelus lewisi Wood, 1976
  • Genus toads head turtles ( Mesoclemmys Gray, 1873) (incl. Batrachemys and Ranacephala )
    • Colombian toad turtle ( Mesoclemmys dahli (Zangerl & Medem, 1958))
    • Humpback turtle ( Mesoclemmys gibba (Schweigger, 1812))
    • Yellow toad head turtle ( Mesoclemmys heliostemma (Mccord, Joseph-Ouni & Lamar, 2001))
    • Paraiba toad head turtle ( Mesoclemmys hogei (Mertens, 1967))
    • Common frog-head turtle ( Mesoclemmys nasuta (Schweigger, 1812))
    • Mesoclemmys perplexa Bour & Zaher, 2005
    • Peruvian frog-head turtle ( Mesoclemmys raniceps (Gray, 1855))
    • Rough toad- headed tortoise ( Mesoclemmys tuberculatus (Luederwaldt, 1926))
    • Southern toad head turtle ( Mesoclemmys vanderhaegei (Bour, 1973))
    • Zulia toad head turtle ( Mesoclemmys zuliae (Pritchard, 1984))
  • Genus Bearded Toad Head Turtles ( Phrynops Wagler, 1830)
    • Dark toad-head turtle ( Phrynops geoffroanus (Schweigger, 1812))
    • Hilaire's toad head turtle ( Phrynops hilarii (Duméril & Bibron, 1835))
    • Spiny toad-headed turtle ( Phrynops tuberosus (Peters, 1870))
    • Williams toad head turtle ( Phrynops williamsi Rhodin & Mittermaier, 1983)
  • Genus flat turtles ( Platemys Wagler, 1830)
    • Red-headed flat turtle ( Platemys platycephala (Schneider, 1792))
  • Genus Rhinemys Wagler, 1830
    • Red toad-headed turtle ( Rhinemys rufipes (Spix, 1824))

Argentine neck turtle ( Hydromedusa tectifera )

• Subfamily Hydromedusinae Baur, 1893
  • Genus South American snake neck turtles ( Hydromedusa Wagler, 1830)
    • Brazilian snake neck turtle ( Hydromedusa maximiliani (Mikan, 1820))
    • Argentine neck turtle ( Hydromedusa tectifera Cope, 1869)

Sources and web links

Commons : Snake Neck Turtles  - Collection of images, videos, and audio files

• Chelidae in The Reptile Database