Phrynops hilarii

Phrynops hilarii, commonly known as Hilaire’s toadhead turtle or Hilaire’s side-necked turtle, is a species of freshwater turtle in the family Chelidae. The species is endemic to South America.

Phrynops hilarii
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 2.3)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Testudines
Suborder:	Pleurodira
Family:	Chelidae
Genus:	Phrynops
Species:	P. hilarii
Binomial name
Phrynops hilarii (A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1835)[1]
Synonyms[2][3]
List Platemys hilarii A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1835 Hydraspis hilairii [sic] Gray, 1844 (ex errore) Hydraspis hilarii — Gray, 1856 Spatulemys lasalae Gray, 1872 Hydraspis hilari [sic] Koslowsky, 1898 (ex errore) Hydraspis geoffroyanus hilarii — Siebenrock, 1905 Phrynops hilarii — Stejneger, 1909 Phrynops geoffroana hilarii — L. Müller, 1939 Phrynops geoffroanus hilarii — Wermuth & Mertens, 1961 Hydraspis hilairi [sic] Pritchard, 1967 (ex errore) Phrynops hilari — Goode, 1967

Etymology

The specific name, hilarii, is in honor of French zoologist Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire.[4]

Geographic range

P. hilarii is found in southern Brazil (Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul), southward and westward into Uruguay and Argentina, and possibly also in Paraguay and Bolivia.[5]

Habitat

These turtles inhabit streams, lakes and swamps with abundant aquatic vegetation and soft bottoms.[6]

Description

Phrynops hilarii

Phrynops hilarii has an oval, flattened carapace, with a maximum length of approximately 40 cm, weighing approximately 5 kg. The carapace is usually dark brown, olive, or gray, with a yellow border. The head is large and flat, gray to olive above, with a pointed snout and two bicolored chin barbels There is a black band on each side of the head, which comes out of the muzzle and passes over the eyes, going up to the neck. [7][6]

Biology

This omnivorous species mainly feed on arthropods, with a preference for copepods, ostracods, and hemipterans. [8] They feed also on fish, birds, reptiles, small mammals and dead animals. It is oviparous. [5] These turtles can live for up to 37 years. [9]

Females lay twice a year, one between February and May and the other between September and December. They lay from 9 to 14 eggs, with a maximum of 32 eggs and an incubation period of approximately 150 days.

References

1. Duméril, André Marie Constant; Bibron, Gabriel (1835). Erpétologie Générale ou Histoire Naturelle Complète des Reptiles. Tome Second. Paris: Roret. 680 pp. (Platemys hilarii, new species, pp. 428-430). (in French).
2. Fritz, Uwe; Havaš, Peter (2007). "Checklist of Chelonians of the World" (PDF). Vertebrate Zoology. 57 (2): 341. ISSN 1864-5755. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-12-17. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
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 No. 5, pp. 000.243–000.328.
4. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Phrynops hilarii, p. 123).
5. The Reptile Database
6. Turtles of the World
7. Mario R. Cabrera, Sonia E. Colantonio Ontogenetic variation of plastral spotting pattern in Phrynops hilarii (Testudines, Chelidae)
8. Leandro Alcalde, Natacha Nara Derocco, and Sergio Daniel Rosset Feeding in Syntopy: Diet of Hydromedusa tectifera and Phrynops hilarii (Chelidae)
9. The animal ageing and longevity database

Further reading

• Boulenger, George Albert (1889). Catalogue of the Chelonians, Rhynchocephalians, and Crocodiles in the British Museum (Natural History). New Edition. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). x + 311 pp. + Plates I-III. (Hydraspis hilarii: p. 220, figure 59, three views of skull; p. 221, figure 60, carapace and plastron; p. 222, species description).