Brown roofed turtle
| Brown roofed turtle | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Testudines |
| Suborder: | Cryptodira |
| Family: | Geoemydidae |
| Genus: | Pangshura |
| Species: | P. smithii |
| Binomial name | |
| Pangshura smithii |
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| Synonyms [1] | |
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Brown roofed turtle(Pangshura smithii), the is a species of the Geoemydidae family of turtles found in South Asia.
Contents |
[edit] Description
Carapace much depressed, feebly keeled. Nuchal shield small, trapezoidal, broadest posteriorly; first vertebral with sinuous lateral borders, usually a little narrower in front than behind; second vertebral shortest, broader than long, usually with straight or slightly convex posterior border; third vertebral considerably longer than broad, subquadrangular, posterior border straight or slightly convex, fourth vertebral longest, tapering anteriorly and forming a narrow suture with the third; fifth vertebral much broader than the others. Plastron feebly angulated laterally, large; front lobe rounded, hind lobe angularly notched and as long as or a little shorter than the width of the bridge; the longest median suture is that between the abdominals, which about equals the length of the front lobe; gulars usually shorter than the suture between the humerals, their suture with the latter shields forming a right angle; inguinal large, axillary smaller. Head moderate; snout short, obtuse, feebly prominent; jaws with denticulated edge, upper not notched mesially; alveolar surface of upper jaw broad, the median ridge nearer the inner than the outer border; bony choanae between the orbits; the width of the lower jaw at the symphysis is less than the diameter of the orbit. Fore limbs with large transverse scales. Pale olive-brown above; dorsal keel usually blackish; plastral shields and lower surface of marginals dark brown, bordered with yellow. Length of shell 8.5 inches.[2]
Races
- smithii: Bangladesh, India, Pakistan
- pallidipes: India, Nepal
[edit] Distribution
- Pakistan, NW India (Indus River system), Bangladesh (rarely in the Ganges River)
[edit] As a pet
In Pakistan, its getting a very common as a household pet as it is cheaper to buy a Kachuga Smithii in Pakistan than a Red Eared Slider (imported Mostly from Bangkok or Hong Kong). Most Brown roofed turtles end up dead in captivity as captors have very little idea what to feed and how to treat them properly.
They are considered to be herbivorous but in captivity they can eat anything ranging from turtle sticks to fish pellets, as well as plants
[edit] References
This article incorporates text from Reptilia and Batrachia, Volume 10, by George Albert Boulenger, a publication from 1890 now in the public domain in the United States.
- ^ a b Asian Turtle Trade Working Group (2000). "Pangshura smithii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2009.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/39554. Retrieved February 3, 2010.
- ^ Boulenger, G. A. 1890. Fauna of British India. Reptilia and Batrachia.
- Auffenberg, Walter;Khan, Naeem Ahmed (1991). Studies of Pakistan reptiles: Notes on Kachuga smithi Hamadryad 16: 25-29.
- Gray, J.E. (1863). Notice of a new species of Batagur. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1863: 253.
- Phillip Q. Spinks, H. Bradley Shaffer, John B. Iverson & William P. McCord (2004). "Phylogenetic hypotheses for the turtle family Geoemydidae". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 32 (1): 164–182. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2003.12.015. PMID 15186805. http://www.eve.ucdavis.edu/shafferlab/pubs/SpinksMolPhyloEvo2004.pdf.
[edit] External links
- Kachuga smithii at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database
- http://itgmv1.fzk.de/www/itg/uetz/herp/photos/Kachuga_smithi.jpg
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