New Guinea snake-necked turtle

The New Guinea snake-necked turtle (Chelodina novaeguineae) is a species of turtle in the family Chelidae. The species is found almost exclusively within Western Province, Papua New Guinea.[5]

New Guinea snake-necked turtle

Least Concern  (IUCN 2.3)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Testudines
Suborder: Pleurodira
Family: Chelidae
Genus: Chelodina
Subgenus: Chelodina
Species:
C. novaeguineae
Binomial name
Chelodina novaeguineae
Synonyms[3][4]
  • Chelodina novaeguineae Boulenger, 1888
  • Chelodina novawquineae Nutaphand, 1979 (ex errore)
  • Chelodina novaeguinea Wells & Wellington, 1984 (ex errore)
  • Chelodina novaeguinae Orenstein, 2001 (ex errore)
  • Chelodina novaeguineae novaeguineae — Artner, 2003
  • Chelodina novaguineae Georges & Thomson, 2006 (ex errore)

Habitat

C. novaeguineae inhabits small and large freshwater bodies of water, jungle rivers with ample vegetation.

Description

The carapace is dark brown, almost black, but shows some variation from "normal" turtle patterns. The plastron is a light brown, tan color. C. novaeguineae has a long neck, which (including the head) can sometimes exceed the length of the carapace. The skin is mostly gray, except for black on the head, and white on the underparts.

Behavior

When resting, C. novaeguineae twists its long neck off to the side for protection. The highly flexible neck permits foraging in mud as well as snorkeling. It also allows the turtle to strike quickly to capture prey.

Reproduction

The New Guinea snake-necked turtle is oviparous. 17–21 eggs are laid and incubation lasts 75–110 days depending on temperature.

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References
  1. Asian Turtle Trade Working Group. (2000). Chelodina novaeguineae. (errata version published in 2016) The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2000
  2. Boulenger GA (1888). "On the Chelydoid Chelonians of New Guinea". Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova, Series 2a, 6: 449–452. (Chelodina novae-guineae, new species, pp. 450–451).
  3. van Dijk, Peter Paul; Iverson, John B.; Shaffer, H. Bradley; Bour, Roger; Rhodin, Anders G.J. (2012). "Turtles of the World, 2012 Update: Annotated Checklist of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution, and Conservation Status". Chelonian Research Monographs. 5: 000.243–000.328.
  4. Georges A, Thomson S (2010). "Diversity of Australasian freshwater turtles, with an annotated synonymy and keys to species" (PDF). Zootaxa. 2496: 1–37.
  5. Turtle Taxonomy Working Group [Rhodin, A.G.J., Iverson, J.B., Bour, R. Fritz, U., Georges, A., Shaffer, H.B., and van Dijk, P.P.]. 2017. Turtles of the World: Annotated Checklist and Atlas of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution, and Conservation Status (8th Ed.). In: Rhodin, A.G.J., Iverson, J.B., van Dijk, P.P., Saumure, R.A., Buhlmann, K.A., Pritchard, P.C.H., and Mittermeier, R.A. (Eds.). Conservation Biology of Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises: A Compilation Project of the IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group. Chelonian Research Monographs 7:1–292. doi:10.3854/crm.7.checklist.atlas.v8.2017
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