Softshell turtles

Softshell turtles
African softshell turtle ( Trionyx triunguis )
Systematics
without rank: Amniotes (Amniota) without rank: Sauropsida Order : Turtles (Testudinata) Subordination : Halsberger tortoises (Cryptodira) Superfamily : Softshell turtle relatives (Trionychoidea) Family : Softshell turtles
Scientific name
Trionychidae
Gray , 1825

The family of softshell turtles (Trionychidae) is characterized by a soft, leather-like shell. The sides and rear of the back armor are flexible. The neck is extremely long, the elongated head ends in a trunk. The toes of the row-like, flattened legs each have three free claws and are connected to one another by webbed feet. They occur in inland lakes in Africa, South and East Asia and North America.

Softshell turtles are very agile and quite snappy, as their long neck allows them to snap backwards over their back armor. Their diet consists mainly of animal food, occasionally they also consume vegetable matter. All species lay round, calcareous eggs. They live in fresh water , sometimes in brackish water or even in sea ​​water . The Trionychidae appeared in the Upper Jurassic together with the sea ​​turtles . It was an early group of the Halsberger tortoise , whose success can be measured by the fact that 13 genera and around 32 species still exist in the inland waters of North America, Africa and Asia.

The lack of the keratin layer of the shell (compare turtles ) should not lead to the assumption that we are dealing with phylogenetically older turtle species. During their development, these species lost the keratin layer again.

Systematics

Indian softshell turtle ( Lissemys punctata )

Florida softshell turtle ( Apalone ferox )

Front Indian short-headed softshell turtle ( Chitra indica )

Malaysian softshell turtle ( Dogania subplana )

Euphrates softshell turtle ( Rafetus euphraticus )

• Family softshell turtles (Trionychidae)
  • Subfamily softshell turtles (Cyclanorbinae Lydekker, 1889)
    • Genus West African flap softshell turtles ( Cyclanorbis Gray, 1854)
      • Spotted softshell turtle ( Cyclanorbis elegans (Gray, 1869))
      • Senegalese softshell turtle ( Cyclanorbis senegalensis (Duméril & Bibron 1835))
    • Genus Central African flap softshell turtles ( Cycloderma Peters, 1854)
      • Red-backed softshell turtle ( Cycloderma aubryi (Duméril, 1856))
      • Gray flap softshell turtle ( Cycloderma frenatum Peters, 1854)
    • Genus Asian softshell turtles ( Lissemys Smith 1931)
      • Sri Lankan softshell turtle ( Lissemys ceylonensis (Gray, 1856))
      • Indian softshell turtle ( Lissemys punctata (Bonnaterre, 1789))
      • Hind- valve softshell turtle ( Lissemys scutata (Peters, 1868))
  • Subfamily common softshell turtles (Trionychinae Gray, 1825)
    • Genus Amyda Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1809
      • Cartilage softshell turtle ( Amyda cartilaginea (Boddaert, 1770))
      • Amyda ornata (Gray, 1861)
    • Genus American softshell turtles ( Apalone Rafinesque, 1832)
      • Florida softshell turtle ( Apalone ferox (Schneider, 1783))
      • Smooth-edged softshell turtle ( Apalone mutica (Le Sueur, 1827))
      • Thorn-edge softshell turtle ( Apalone spinifera (Le Sueur, 1827))
    • Genus short-headed softshell turtles ( Chitra Gray, 1844)
      • Rear Indian short-headed softshell turtle ( Chitra chitra Nutaphand, 1986)
      • Front Indian short-headed softshell turtle ( Chitra indica (Gray, 1831))
      • Burmese short-headed softshell turtle ( Chitra vandijki Mccord & Pritchard, 2003)
    • Genus Dogania Gray, 1844
      • Malaysian softshell turtle ( Dogania subplana (Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1809))
    • Genus Indian softshell turtles ( Nilssonia Gray, 1872) (incl. Aspideretes )
      • Burmese softshell turtle ( Nilssonia formosa (Gray, 1869))
      • Ganges softshell turtle ( Nilssonia gangeticus (Cuvier, 1825))
      • Peacock softshell turtle ( Nilssonia hurum (Gray, 1831))
      • Leiths softshell turtle ( Nilssonia leithii (Gray, 1872))
      • Dark softshell turtle ( Nilssonia nigricans (Anderson, 1875))
    • Genus Palea Meylan, 1987
      • Neck-thorn softshell turtle ( Palea steindachneri (Siebenrock, 1906))
    • Genus giant softshell turtles ( Pelochelys Gray, 1864)
      • Bibron's giant softshell turtle ( Pelochelys bibroni (Owen, 1853))
      • Cantor's giant softshell turtle ( Pelochelys cantorii Gray, 1864)
      • New Guinea giant softshell turtle ( Pelochelys signifera Webb, 2002)
    • Genus Far Eastern softshell turtles ( Pelodiscus Fitzinger, 1835)
      • Hunan softshell turtle ( Pelodiscus axenaria (Zhou, Zhang & Fang, 1991))
      • Amur softshell turtle ( Pelodiscus maackii (Brandt, 1858))
      • Guangxi softshell turtle ( Pelodiscus parviformis Tang, 1997)
      • Chinese softshell turtle ( Pelodiscus sinensis (Wiegmann, 1835))
    • Genus Rafetus Gray, 1864
      • Euphrates softshell turtle ( Rafetus euphraticus (Daudin, 1802))
      • Yangtze River giant soft shell turtle ( Rafetus swinhoei (Gray, 1873))
    • Genus African softshell turtles ( Trionyx )
      • African softshell turtle ( Trionyx triunguis (Forskål, 1775))

Fossil taxa

• Genus Drazinderetes Head, Raza & Gingerich, 1999
  • Drazinderetes tethyensis Head, Raza & Gingerich, 1999
• Genus Hutchemys Joyce, Levan, Lyson & Danilov, 2009
  • Hutchemys remendium Joyce, Levan, Lyson & Danilov, 2009
  • Hutchemys arctochelys Joyce, Levan, Lyson & Danilov, 2009

Danger

Some softshell turtles are extremely rare and on the verge of extinction. Of Cantor's giant softshell turtle ( Pelochelys cantorii ), only three fully grown and twelve newly hatched juveniles were found on the Mekong in Cambodia in 2007 . Of the Yangtze giant soft turtle ( Rafetus swinhoei ), only two specimens in zoos in China and one in Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi were known until a fourth animal was found in Vietnam . The last known female of this species died on April 13, 2019.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Species protection - reappeared. National Geographic Germany, January 2008, p. 18.
2. ↑ Rare giant tortoise discovered in Vietnam. ( Memento from April 21, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) netzeitung.de, accessed on May 10, 2008.
3. ↑ Last known female died

Web links

Commons : Softshell Turtles (Trionychidae)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Trionychidae in The Reptile Database
• Softshell turtles - primal animals with proboscis - GEO.de , August 20, 2010, video