New Guinea snake-necked turtle

New Guinea snake-necked turtle
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 2.3)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Testudines
Suborder:	Pleurodira
Family:	Chelidae
Subfamily:	Chelodininae
Genus:	Chelodina
Subgenus:	Chelodina
Species:	C. novaeguineae
Binomial name
Chelodina novaeguineae Boulenger , 1888[1]
Synonyms[2][3]
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) Chelodina gunaleni McCord & Ouni, 2007

The New Guinea snake-necked turtle (Chelodina novaeguineae) is a species of turtle in the family Chelidae. The species is found in northeastern Australia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea.

Habitat

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

Characteristics

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 under parts.

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.

References

1. 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).
2. 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.
3. Georges A, Thomson S (2010). "Diversity of Australasian freshwater turtles, with an annotated synonymy and keys to species". Zootaxa 2496: 1–37.

External links

• Asian Turtle Trade Working Group (2000). Chelodina novaeguineae. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 29 July 2007.
• http://www.hoglezoo.org/meet_our_animals/animal_finder/New_Guinea_Snake_neck_Turtle.

• Turtles portal