Brahminy river turtle

Brahminy river turtle
Hardella thurjii
Conservation status
Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)
CITES Appendix II (CITES)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Testudines
Suborder:	Cryptodira
Superfamily:	Testudinoidea
Family:	Geoemydidae
Subfamily:	Geoemydinae
Genus:	Hardella Gray, 1870
Species:	H. thurjii
Binomial name
Hardella thurjii (Gray, 1831)
Synonyms
Hardella thurjii thurjii (Gray, 1831) Emys thuryi Gray in Griffith & Pidgeon, 1831 (nomen oblitum) Emys thurjii Gray, 1831 Emys thuji Gray, 1831 (ex errore) Emys flavonigra Lesson, 1831 Emys thugi Gray, 1832 (ex errore) Clemmys (Clemmys) thurgii Fitzinger, 1835 (ex errore) Emys thurgii — Gray, 1844 Clemmys thurgi Strauch, 1862 (ex errore) Batagur thurgii — Theobald, 1868 Kachuga oldhami Gray, 1869 Hardella thurgi — Gray, 1870 Emys thurgi — Günther, 1871 Batagur (Hardella) thurgi — Anderson, 1879 ? Batagur cautleyi Lydekker, 1885 ? Batagur falconeri Lydekker, 1885 Hardella thurgii — Siebenrock, 1906 Hardella thurjii — Siebenrock, 1909 Hardella thurjii thurjii — Wermuth & Mertens, 1977 Hardella thurji Pritchard, 1979 (ex errore) Hardella thurji thurji — Obst, 1985 Hardella thurjii indi Gray, 1870 Hardella indi Gray, 1870 Hardella thurjii indi — Wermuth & Mertens, 1977 Hardella thurji indi — Obst, 1984 Hardella thrrji indi Gosławski & Hryniewicz, 1993 (ex errore)

The brahminy river turtle or crowned river turtle (Hardella thurjii) is a species of turtle in the family Geoemydidae. The species is endemic to South Asia.

Taxonomy

The genus Hardella, to which the species Hardella thurjii belongs, is a monotypic genus.

Geographic range

Hardella thurjii is found in northern India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh in the watersheds of the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Indus rivers.

Description

Hardella thurjii has a shell with a large, moderately flat, dark brown or black carapace (dorsal surface) and a yellow or black plastron (ventral surface). The shell is up to 18 inches (460 mm) in length in females, and is shorter in males. The lower jaw is heavily dented.

Sexual dimorphism

Hardella thurjii exhibits sexual dimorphism. Mature females are three times the size of mature males. According to Das, maximum straight carapace length in females is 61 cm (24 in), but in males maximum straight carapace length is only 18 cm (7.1 in).

Reproduction

The reproductive habits of H. thurjii are unique among reptiles in that the females lay their eggs under water rather than on dry land. Their reproductive cycle follows seasonal changes in the water levels of the rivers in which they live. In autumn, females lay their eggs under water, where higher water levels submerge the eggs for 40 to 45 days. In the winter, lower water levels expose the eggs for five months. The rising water levels of spring submerge the almost mature eggs once again, and the turtles hatch in the river.

Indian zoologist Dhruvajyoti Basu first documented the unique reproductive habits of the brahminy river turtle in 2011. The Prague Zoo incubated the first brahminy river turtle which was born in captivity in 2012.

External links

• Hardella thurjii at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database

Further reading

• Das I (1984). "Record length of the Brahminy River Turtle Hardella thurjii ". Hamadryad 9 (3): 18.
• Das I (2002). A Photographic Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of India. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 144 pp. ISBN 0-88359-056-5. (Hardella thurjii, p. 126).
• Gray JE (1831). Synopsis Reptilium; or Short Descriptions of the Species of Reptiles. Part I.—Cataphracta. Tortoises, Crocodiles, and Enaliosaurians. London: Treuttel, Wurtz, and Co. viii + 85 pp. (Diggens and Jones, printers). (Emys thurjii, new species, p. 22). (in English and Latin).
• Smith MA (1931). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Amphibia. Vol. I.—Loricata, Testudines. London: Secretary of State for India in Council. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xxviii + 128 pp. + Plates I-II. (Hardella thurgi, pp. 122–124 + Figure 4 facing p. 50).