Northern river terrapin

Northern river terrapin
Conservation status
Critically Endangered  (IUCN 2.3)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Testudines
Suborder:	Cryptodira
Family:	Geoemydidae
Genus:	Batagur
Species:	B. baska
Binomial name
Batagur baska (Gray, 1830)[1]
Synonyms[2]
Emys baska Gray, 1830 Emys batagur Gray, 1831 Testudo baska Gray, 1831 Trionyx (Tetraonyx) cuvieri Gray, 1831 Tetronyx longicollis Lesson, 1834 Tetronyx baska Duméril & Bibron, 1835 Tetraonyx lessonii Duméril & Bibron, 1835 Tetraonyx longicollis Duméril & Bibron, 1835 Clemmys (Clemmys) batagur Fitzinger, 1835 Hydraspis (Tetronyx) lessonii Fitzinger, 1835 Emys tetraonyx Temminck & Schlegel, 1835 Tetraonyx batagur Gray, 1844 Batagur (Batagur) baska Gray, 1856 Clemmys longicollis Strauch, 1862 Tetraonyx baska Gray, 1869 Batagur batagur Lindholm, 1929 Tetraonyx lessoni Bourret, 1941 (ex errore) Batagur baska ranongensis Nutaphand, 1979 Batagur ranongensis Nutaphand, 1979 Batagur basca Anan'eva, 1988 (ex errore) Batagur baska baska Stubbs, 1989 Batagur batagur batagur Joseph-Ouni, 2004 Batagur batagur ranongensis Joseph-Ouni, 2004

The northern river terrapin (Batagur baska), is a species of riverine turtle. It is one of the most critically endangered turtle species according to a 2000 assessment by the IUCN.

Description

River terrapins of different age cohorts: (from top to bottom) hatchling of about a week old, one year old and two years old.

Carapace moderately depressed, with a vertebral keel in the young, which keel disappears in the adult; nuchal broader than long; first vertebral as broad in front as behind, or a little broader; vertebrals 2 to 4 subequal, much broader than long in the young, nearly as long as broad and as broad as the costals in the adult, the postero-lateral border of the third vertebral strongly concave. Plastron large, strongly angulate laterally in the young, convex in the adult, truncate anteriorly, angularly notched posteriorly; the width of the bridge exceeds the length of the posterior lobe; the longest median suture is that between the abdominals, the shortest that between the gulars, the latter never more than half that between the humerals; inguinal large, axillary smaller. Head rather small; snout pointed, produced, directed upwards; jaws with denticulated edge, upper feebly notched mesially; the width of the lower jaw at the symphysis nearly equals the diameter of the orbit. Limbs with transversely enlarged, band-like scales. Maximum carapace length is 60 cm. Upper surface of shell and soft parts olive-brown, lower surface yellowish. ^[3]

Common names

In English the Batagur baska has common names of northern river terrapin,^[1] batagur,^[4][5] common batagur,^[4] four-toed terrapin,^[4] river terrapin,^[4][6] giant river turtle,^[5] giant river terrapin,^[5] mangrove terrapin^[6] and Asian river terrapin^[6]

Distribution

The Batagur baska is found only in Bangladesh, parts of India (West Bengal and Orissa), Myanmar, Cambodia(?). Although it might have been extirpated from Cambodia.

See also

• Southern river terrapin

References

• Das, Indraneil (1989) "Batagur baska in Orissa" Hamadryad: The Journal of the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust 14(1): 2-3
• Gray,J.E. (1857) "Notice of some Indian tortoises (including the description of a new species presented to the British Museum by Professor Oldham)" Annals and Magazine of Natural History 19(2): 342-344

Bibliography

• Rhodin, Anders G.J.; van Dijk, Peter Paul; Inverson, John B.; Shaffer, H. Bradley; Roger, Bour (2011-12-31). "Turtles of the world, 2011 update: Annotated checklist of taxonomy, synonymy, distribution and conservation status". Chelonian Research Monographs 5. Archived from the original on 2012-01-22. 

External links

• Centre for Turtle Research and Conservation
• Batagur baska at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database

Turtle family Geoemydidae Genus Species of the family Geoemydidae Batagur Burmese roofed turtle Northern river terrapin Painted terrapin Red-crowned roofed turtle Southern river terrapin Three-striped roofed turtle Cuora Amboina box turtle Bourret's box turtle Indochinese box turtle McCord's box turtle Keeled box turtle Pan's box turtle Southern Vietnamese box turtle Chinese three-striped box turtle Yellow-headed box turtle Yellow-margined box turtle Yunnan box turtle Zhou's box turtle Cyclemys Asian leaf turtle Assam leaf turtle Eastern black-bridged leaf turtle Enigmatic leaf turtle Myanmar brown leaf turtle Oldham's leaf turtle Western black-bridged leaf turtle Geoclemys Black pond turtle Geoemyda Black-breasted leaf turtle Ryukyu black-breasted leaf turtle Hardella Brahminy river turtle Heosemys Arakan forest turtle Giant Asian pond turtle Spiny turtle Yellow-headed temple turtle Leucocephalon Sulawesi forest turtle Malayemys Malayan snail-eating turtle Mekong snail-eating turtle Mauremys Balkan pond turtle Caspian turtle Chinese pond turtle Chinese stripe-necked turtle Japanese pond turtle Red-necked pond turtle Spanish pond turtle Vietnamese pond turtle Yellow pond turtle Melanochelys Indian black turtle Tricarinate hill turtle Morenia Burmese eyed turtle Indian eyed turtle Notochelys Malayan flat-shelled turtle Orlitia Malaysian giant turtle Pangshura Assam roofed turtle Brown roofed turtle Indian roofed turtle Indian tent turtle Rhinoclemmys Black river turtle Brown wood turtle Colombian wood turtle Furrowed wood turtle Large-nosed wood turtle Maracaibo wood turtle Mexican spotted wood turtle Painted wood turtle Spot-legged turtle Sacalia Beal's eyed turtle Four-eyed turtle Siebenrockiella Black marsh turtle Philippine forest turtle Vijayachelys Cane turtle Phylogenetic arrangement based on turtles of the world 2011 update: annotated checklist.