Elseya branderhorsti facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Elseya branderhorsti |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Elseya branderhorsti, 8-year-old male | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Elseya
|
| Species: |
branderhorsti
|
| Synonyms | |
|
|
The Elseya branderhorsti, also known as Branderhorst's turtle, is a type of freshwater turtle. It is also sometimes called Branderhorst's snapping turtle. This special turtle lives only in southern New Guinea. You can find it in West Papua, Indonesia, and the Western Province of Papua New Guinea.
For a while, this species was a bit confusing for scientists to identify. This was partly because its original example specimen, called a holotype, was lost. The Elseya branderhorsti is currently listed as "Vulnerable" on the IUCN RedList. This means it is at risk of becoming extinct. One reason for this is that it can be caught for the Asian turtle trade.
Contents
What's in a Name?
The specific name of this turtle, branderhorsti, was chosen to honor a Dutch physician named Bastiaan Branderhorst. He was born in 1880.
How Scientists Identify This Turtle
Scientists recently had to define a new main example, called a neotype, for E. branderhorsti. This helped to clear up some confusion about its identity. Thomson and his team studied the turtle's history. They decided its original home area was "southeastern Papua, Indonesia, between the Lorentz River and Merauke." The new example turtle was found in this area.
This special neotype is now kept at the Papua New Guinea National Museum. Scientists confirmed that this turtle is the same species that Ouwens first described in 1914. The closest relatives of E. branderhorsti are E. dentata and E. flaviventralis. Both of these related species live in northern Australia. These three turtles together form a group called the subgenus Elseya.
What Does Branderhorst's Turtle Look Like?
E. branderhorsti is a large river turtle. It can grow to have a very big, oval-shaped shell. This shell is often longer than 400 mm (about 16 inches). The top of its shell, called the carapace, is dark brown to black. Its underside, called the plastron, is cream-colored.
You can tell this turtle apart from another similar species, E. rhodini, by a few key features. E. branderhorsti does not have a special neck plate called a cervical scute. It also has a clear head shield that does not go all the way down to its ear area. Another special feature is a distinct ridge inside its mouth. Its eyes often look "liquid" because the iris is not very clear.
Where Does This Turtle Live?
The E. branderhorsti prefers to live in freshwater rivers and swamps. This is its natural home.
Local Use of the Turtle
Local people sometimes use the meat and internal organs of E. branderhorsti. They value this turtle because of its large size. The clean, white undersides of young E. branderhorsti turtles are also collected. These are used in some traditional practices.
