Emydura, also known commonly as the Australian short-necked turtles, is a genus of turtles in the family Chelidae. The genus was paraphyletic with Elseya. Consequently, it was split into two genera Myuchelys and Elseya by Thomson and Georges in 2009.[4] Turtles of the genus Emydura can grow quite large,[5] 30 cm (12 in) or more is not unusual, and have a life span of around 20–30 years. They generally do not hibernate as their warmer climate lets them remain active all year round; they also spend more time in the water than other turtles. They are considered omnivorous but rely on a constant supply of meat to remain healthy, feeding on basically anything that will fit into their mouth. They are characterised by a white stripe starting at the nose and leading down the neck, as well as a more ridged shell. In Australia, the public require a basic reptiles licence to purchase these turtles; taking from the wild is strictly prohibited.
| Australian short-necked turtles | |
|---|---|
| |
| Macquarie turtle Emydura macquarii | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Testudines |
| Suborder: | Pleurodira |
| Family: | Chelidae |
| Subfamily: | Chelodininae |
| Genus: | Emydura Bonaparte, 1836[1] |
| Species | |
|
6, and see text | |
| Synonyms[2][3] | |
| |
Species
editSpecies and notable subspecies arranged according to most recent review of Georges & Thomson, 2010[2] with some modification after Kehlmaier et al. 2019[6][2] are:
- Northern red-faced turtle, Emydura australis, (Gray, 1841)
- Emydura gunaleni, Smales, McCord, Cann, & Joseph-Ouni, 2019
- Macquarie turtle, Emydura macquarii, (Gray, 1830)[7]
- Murray river turtle, Emydura macquarii macquarii
- Krefft's turtle, Emydura macquarii krefftii
- Fraser island short-neck turtle, Emydura macquarii nigra
- Cooper creek turtle, Emydura macquarii emmotti
- Red-bellied short-necked turtle or Jardine River Turtle, Emydura subglobosa, (Krefft 1876)[8]
- Red-bellied short-necked turtle, Emydura subglobosa subglobosa
- Worrell's short-necked turtle, Emydura subglobosa worrelli
- Northern yellow-faced turtle, Emydura tanybaraga, Cann, 1997[9]
- Victoria river red-faced turtle, Emydura victoriae, (Gray 1841)[10]
-
Kreftt's river turtle
References
edit- ^ Bonaparte, C.L. 1836. Cheloniorum Tabula Analytica. Rome, 9 pp.
- ^ a b c Georges, A. & Thomson, S. 2010. Diversity of Australasian freshwater turtles, with an annotated synonymy and keys to species. Zootaxa 2496: 1–37.
- ^ Turtle Taxonomy Working Group [van Dijk, P.P., Iverson, J.B., Rhodin, A.G.J., Shaffer, H.B., and Bour, R.]. 2014. Turtles of the world, 7th edition: annotated checklist of taxonomy, synonymy, distribution with maps, and conservation status. In: Rhodin, A.G.J., Pritchard, P.C.H., van Dijk, P.P., Saumure, R.A., Buhlmann, K.A., Iverson, J.B., 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 5(7):000.329–479, doi:10.3854/ crm.5.000.checklist.v7.2014.
- ^ Thomson, S. & Georges, A. (2009) Myuchelys gen. nov. —a new genus for Elseya latisternum and related forms of Australian freshwater turtle (Testudines: Pleurodira: Chelidae) Zootaxa 2053: 32–42.
- ^ Fitzsimmons, Craig (24 December 2019). "Desert turtle thriving in outback's boom or bust drought conditions". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
- ^ Kehlmaier, C., Zhang, X., Georges, A., Campbell, P.D., Thomson, S., & Fritz, U. 2019. Mitogenomics of historical type specimens of Australasian turtles: clarification of taxonomic confusion and old mitochondrial introgression. Scientific Reports (2019) 9:5841 | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-42310-x
- ^ Gray, J.E. 1830. A synopsis of the species of the class Reptilia. pp 1–110 in Griffith, E. The animal kingdom arranged in conformity with its organisation by the Baron Cuvier. London: Whitaker and Treacher and Co. 9:481 + 110pp.
- ^ Krefft, G. 1876. Notes on Australian animals in New Guinea with description of a new freshwater tortoise belonging to the genus Euchelymys. Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale de Genova. 1:390-394.
- ^ Cann, J. 1997. The northern yellow-faced turtle. Monitor 9(1):24-29, 34–35.
- ^ Gray, J.E. 1841. Description of some hitherto unrecorded species of Australian reptiles and batrachians. pp 51–57. in Gray, J.E. Zoological Miscellaney. London: Treutal, Wurtz and Co.