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The Mary River Turtle, Elusor macrurus, is an endangered short-necked turtle whose habitat is in the Mary River in Queensland, Australia. The shell measures up to 42 cm on males and 33 cm on females. Males exhibit a long tail roughly 70% of their shell length. In the 1960's and 1970's, they used to be popular as pets in Australia, about 15,000 sent to shops every year, as the "Penny turtle". Hatchlings have shells about 3-4 cm long. It was first described as a new species in 1994. It was first thought to be a new species in 1960, but an adult specimen was not seen until 1987. They are the second most endangered freshwater turtle in the world. They are hard to breed because it takes 25 years for them to reach sexual maturity.
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