Elseya

Elseya is a genus of large side-necked turtles, commonly known as Australian snapping turtles, in the family Chelidae. Species in the genus Elseya are found in river systems in northern and northeastern Australia and throughout the river systems of New Guinea.[6] They are identified by the presence of alveolar ridges on the triturating surfaces of the mouth and the presence of a complex bridge strut.[7]

Elseya
Elseya lavarackorum
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Testudines
Suborder: Pleurodira
Family: Chelidae
Subfamily: Chelodininae
Genus: Elseya
Gray, 1867[1]
Type species
Chelymys dentata
Synonyms[3]

Chelymys Gray, 1844
Euchelymys Gray, 1871
Pelocomastes De Vis, 1897[4][5]

The Australian snapping turtles are largely herbivorous, with specialized mouth structures for eating fruits. However, they will eat animal products if opportunity arises. The various species can be found in large numbers where they are still abundant, e.g., Northern Territory of Australia. However, a number of the populations have become increasingly rare, and some are now listed as endangered.

Systematics

Etymology

John Edward Gray created the generic name, Elseya, in 1867 in honour of Dr. Joseph Ravenscroft Elsey (1834–1858). Elsey was a surgeon-naturalist on the Gregory Expedition[8] that traversed northern Australia from the Victoria River to Moreton Bay in 1855–1856.

List of species

The genus was originally described by Gray in 1867 with the type species being set as Elseya dentata. The fossil genus Pelocomastes was later synonymised with this genus.[5] Following the recent revisions of this genus, the latisternum group has been moved to the new genus Myuchelys.[9] The remaining species of this genus have additionally been separated into three subgenera, Elseya, Pelocomastes, and Hanwarachelys, and the species redistributed among them.[10]

Common name Scientific name[lower-alpha 1] IUCN Red List Status[11] Picture
Subgenus: Elseya
Northern snapping turtle Elseya dentata
(Gray, 1863)[12]		 LC
Branderhorst's snapping turtle Elseya branderhorsti
(Ouwens, 1914)[13]		 VU IUCN
Yellow-bellied snapping turtle Elseya flaviventralis
Thomson & Georges, 2016[14]		 LC
Subgenus: Pelocomastes
White-throated snapping turtle Elseya albagula
Thomson, Georges & Limpus, 2006[6]		 EN
Irwin's turtle Elseya irwini
Cann, 1997[15]		 NE
Gulf snapping turtle Elseya lavarackorum
(White & Archer, 1994)[16]		 NE
Subgenus: Hanwarachelys
Elseya caelatus
Joseph-Ouni, & McCord, 2019
Western New Guinea stream turtle Elseya novaeguineae
(Meyer, 1874)[17]		 LC IUCN
Elseya orestiad
Joseph-Ouni, & McCord, 2019
Southern New Guinea stream turtle Elseya rhodini
Thomson, Amapou, Anamiato & Georges, 2015[10]
Northern New Guinea stream turtle Elseya schultzei
(T. Vogt, 1911)[18]		 LC

Extinct species
Fossil of Elseya uberrima

There are two identified extinct species of Elseya. Elseya nadibajagu Thomson & Mackness, 1999[19] and Elseya uberrima (De Vis, 1897)[20] are prehistoric species known only from fossils. E. lavarackorum was initially believed also to be a fossil taxon, but later discovered to be still extant.[7] Elseya nadibajagu is a Pliocene species of extinct Australian snapping turtle, described from the Bluff Downs region of Queensland, Australia.;[21] whereas Elseya uberrima is an Pleistocene species described from the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia.[22]

Notes
  1. A binomial authority in parentheses indicates the species was originally described in a genus other than Pelusios.

References
  1. Gray JE (1867). "Description of a new Australian tortoise (Elseya latisternum)". Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Third Series 20: 43-45.
  2. Lindholm WA (1929). "Revidiertes Verzeichnes der Gattungen der rezenten Schildkröten nebst Notizen zur Nomenklatur einiger Arten ". Zoologischer Anzeiger 81 (11/12): 275-295. (in German).
  3. Turtle Taxonomy Working Group [van Dijk PP, Iverson JB, Rhodin AGJ, Shaffer HB, Bour R] (2014). "Turtles of the world, 7th edition: annotated checklist of taxonomy, synonymy, distribution with maps, and conservation status". In: Rhodin AGJ, Pritchard PCH, van Dijk PP, Saumure RA, Buhlmann KA, Iverson JB, Mittermeier RA (Editors) (2014). 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.
  4. De Vis CW (1897). "The extinct freshwater turtles of Queensland". Annals of the Queensland Museum 3: 3-7.
  5. Thomson SA (2000). "A Revision of the Fossil Chelid Turtles (Pleurodira) Described by C.W. De Vis, 1897". Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 45 (2):593-598. Brisbane. ISSN 0079-8835. PDF fulltext
  6. Thomson S, Georges A, Limpus C (2006). "A New Species of Freshwater Turtle in the Genus Elseya (Testudines: Chelidae) from Central Coastal Queensland, Australia". Chelon. Conserv. Biol. 5 (1): 74–86. PDF fulltext Archived 2007-08-29 at the Wayback Machine
  7. Thomson S, White A, Georges A (1997). "Re-Evaluation of Emydura lavarackorum: Identification of a Living Fossil". Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 42 (1): 327-336.
  8. 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. (Genus Elseya, p. 83).
  9. 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.
  10. Thomson S, Amepou Y, Anamiato J, Georges A (2015). "A new species and subgenus of Elseya (Testudines: Pleurodira: Chelidae) from New Guinea". Zootaxa 4006 (1): 59-82. Preview (PDF)
  11. 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
  12. Gray JE (1863). "On the species of Chelymys from Australia, with the description of a new species". Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Third Series 12: 98-99.
  13. Ouwens PA (1914). "List of Dutch East Indian Chelonians in the Buitenzong Zoological Museum". Contributions a la Faune des Indes Néelandaises 1: 29-32.
  14. Thomson S, Georges A (2015). "A new species of freshwater turtle of the genus Elseya (Testudinata: Pleurodira: Chelidae) from the Northern Territory of Australia". Zootaxa 4061 (1): 18-28. PDF
  15. Cann J (1997). "Irwin's Turtle". Monitor 9 (1): 36-40.
  16. White AW, Archer M (1994). "Emydura lavarackorum, a new Pleistocene turtle (Pleurodira: Chelidae) from fluviatile deposits at Riversleigh, Northwestern Queensland". Records of the South Australian Museum 27 (2): 160-167.
  17. Meyer AB (1874). "Platemys novaeguineae sp. nov. Dr W.H. Peters legte vor: Eine mitteilung von Hrn. Adolf Bernhard Meyer über die von ihm auf Neu-Guinea under den Inseln Jobi, Mysore und Mafoor im Jahre 1873 gesammelten Amphibien ". Monatsber. Konig. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin 39: 128-140. (in German).
  18. Vogt, Theodor (1911). "Reptilien und Amphibien aus Neu-Guinea". Sitzungsberichte der Gesellschaft der Naturforschender Freunde, Berlin 9: 410–414. (in German).
  19. Thomson SA, Mackness BS (1999). "Fossil Turtles from the Early Pliocene Bluff Downs Local Fauna, with a description of a new species of Elseya ". Trans. R. Soc. S. Australia 123 (3): 101-105.
  20. De Vis CW (1897). "The extinct freshwater turtles of Queensland". Annals of the Queensland Museum 3: 3-7.
  21. Thomson SA, Mackness BS. (1999). "Fossil turtles from the Early Pliocene Bluff Downs local fauna, with a description of a new species of Elseya" (PDF). Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia. 123 (3): 101–105.
  22. Thomson SA. 2000. A Revision of the Fossil Chelid Turtles (Pleurodira) Described by C.W. De Vis, 1897. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 45 (2): 593-598. (Brisbane).
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