Assam roofed turtle (Pangshura sylhetensis), is a species of the Geoemydidae family of turtles found in the Brahmaputra-Meghna drainage in Assam and parts of eastern Bangladesh. It was formerly in the Batagur genus and defunct genus Kachuga.
Description [edit]
This turtle has an elevated carapace, tectiform, the keel ending in an elevated pointed nodosity on the third vertebral shield, forming a strong ridge on the last two vertebrals; posterior margin very strongly serrated; 26 marginal shields, instead of 24 as m all other species o£ the genus; first vertebral shield much broader in front than behind in the half-grown specimens, equally broad in front and behind in the adult; second vertebral shortest, broader than long, with straight posterior border; third vertebral considerably longer than broad, pointed behind, and forming a very narrow suture with the fourth, which tapers anteriorly and equals in length the first and second together ; fifth vertebral not broader than fourth, pointed posteriorly. Plastron large, feebly angulate laterally, truncate anteriorly, angularly notched posteriorly; the longest median suture is that between the abdominals; suture between the gulars as long as or shorter than that between the humerals; suture between gulars and humerals forming aright angle; inguinal and axillary large. Carapace olive-brown, usually with a lighter streak along the keel; plastral shields dark brown with a broad yellow border.[2] Length of shell 7 inches.
Type locality: Sylhet River, Khasi Hills, India.
References [edit]
- ^ Fritz Uwe; Peter Havaš (2007). "Checklist of Chelonians of the World". Vertebrate Zoology 57 (2): 239. ISSN 18640-5755. Archived from the original on 2010-12-17. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
- ^ Boulenger, G. A. 1890. Fauna of British India. Reptilia and Batrachia. pp. 42-43
- Asian Turtle Trade Working Group (2000). Kachuga sylhetensis. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is endangered and the criteria used
- Choudhury, Anwaruddin (1993) "New locality records for Kachuga sylhetensis (Jerdon, 1870)" Hamadryad: The Journal of the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust 18: 43-45
- Das, Indraneil (1997) "Kachuga sylhetensis recorded from northern Bengal, with notes on turtles of Gorumara National Park, Eastern India" Chelonian Conservation and Biology 2(4): 616-617
- Jerdon, T. C. (1870) "Notes on Indian Herpetology" Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal March 1870: 66-85
- Praschag, Peter and Fachbach, Günther (2001) "Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Assam-Dachschildkröte, Kachuga sylhetensis (Jerdon 1870) (Reptilia: Testudines: Bataguridae)" Salamandra 37(3): 129-148 ["Contributions to the knowledge of the Assam roofed turtle, Kachuga sylhetensis (Jerdon, 1870)"]
External links [edit]
