Spiny turtle

Spiny turtle
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Sauropsida
Order: Testudines
Suborder: Cryptodira
Superfamily: Testudinoidea
Family: Geoemydidae
Genus: Heosemys
Species: H. spinosa
Binomial name
Heosemys spinosa
Bell, 1830

The Spiny turtle (Heosemys spinosa) inhabits lowland and hill rainforest, usually in the vicinity of small streams, mainly in hill areas up to 900 m. The Spiny turtle is known from Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.

Contents

Description

The origin of its common and specific name is immediately apparent from the sharp, pointed, spiky-edged carapace, and spiny keel, of this unique turtle, also known as the ‘cog-wheel turtle'. There are also

Reproduction

Mating behaviour is apparently stimulated by rains, with males becoming excited when sprayed with water in captivity, chasing females in an attempt to mount. Nesting behaviour is unknown in the wild, but generally one or two eggs are laid per clutch (clutches containing three eggs have been recorded) in captivity, usually at night or in the early morning. Up to three clutches have been produced a year, and to enable the passage of these relatively large eggs, a hinge develops in the female's plastron to allow greater flexibility during egg-laying. There have only ever been a handful of successful captive breeding efforts of the spiny turtle, and those that have been successful have had incubation periods of 106 days, 110 days and 145 days.

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