Rafetus

Rafetus is a genus of highly endangered softshell turtles in the family Trionychidae. It is a genus of large turtles which are found in freshwater habitats in Asia.

Rafetus
Rafetus swinhoei in Hanoi, Vietnam
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Testudines
Suborder:	Cryptodira
Family:	Trionychidae
Subfamily:	Trionychinae
Genus:	Rafetus Gray, 1864
Species
Two or three, see text.

Species

According to most taxonomists, the genus Rafetus contains the following two species.

• Rafetus euphraticus (Daudin, 1801) – Euphrates softshell turtle
• Rafetus swinhoei (Gray, 1873) – Yangtze giant softshell turtle

A third species, Rafetus leloii Hà, 2000 (synonym R. vietnamensis Le et al., 2010), known commonly as the Hoan Kiem turtle, has been proposed as a species. It is considered a junior synonym of Rafetus swinhoei by most authorities,[1] but some Vietnamese scientists insist the two forms are not identical. The last known individual at Hoan Kiem Lake was found dead on 19 January 2016.

Taxonomy

Cladogram

As drawn by Walter G. Joyce, Ariel Revan, Tyler R. Lyson, and Igor G. Danilov (2009)[2]

Trionychidae	Cyclanorbinae    Cyclanorbis       Cycloderma     Lissemys        †Plastomeninae    Hutchemys     Plastomenus        Trionychinae        Trionyx       Chitra     Pelochelys           Apalone     Rafetus             Amyda     Aspideretes     Nilssonia         Dogania     Palea     Pelodiscus

Distribution

• Rafetus euphraticus: had been found at Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and Khūzestān Province of Iran. The International Union for Conservation of Nature rates it as Endangered.[3]
• Rafetus swinhoei: Only three known living individuals, one in Suzhou Zoo (China) and two in two lakes in northern Vietnam, Dong Mo lake and Xuan Khanh lake. IUCN rates it as critically endangered.[4]

References

1. Farkas B, Webb RG (2003). "Rafetus leloii Hà Dinh Dúc, 2000 — an invalid species of softshell turtle from Hoan Kiem Lake, Hanoi, Vietnam (Reptilia, Testudines, Trionychidae)". Zool. Abhandl. (Dresden) 53: 107-112.
2. Joyce, Walter G.; Revan, Ariel; Lyson, Tyler R.; Danilov, Igor G. (2009). "Two New Plastomenine Softshell Turtles from the Paleocene of Montana and Wyoming" (PDF). Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History. 50 (2): 307–325. doi:10.3374/014.050.0202.
3. Ghaffari, H.; Taskavak, E.; Turkozan, O.; Mobaraki, A. (2017). "Rafetus euphraticus ". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
4. Asian Turtle Trade Working Group (2000). "Rafetus swinhoei ". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2000.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

External links

• Gray JE (1864). "Revision of the Species of Trionychidae found in Asia and Africa, with Descriptions of some New Species". Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1864: 76-98. (Rafetus, new genus, p. 81).