Emydura

Genus of turtles From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Emydura, also known commonly as the Australian short-necked turtles, is a genus of turtles in the family Chelidae. The genus was paraphyletic with Elseya. Consequently, it was split into two genera Myuchelys and Elseya by Thomson and Georges in 2009.[4] Turtles of the genus Emydura can grow quite large,[5] 30 cm (12 in) or more is not unusual, and have a life span of around 20–30 years. They generally do not hibernate as their warmer climate lets them remain active all year round; they also spend more time in the water than other turtles. They are considered omnivorous but rely on a constant supply of meat to remain healthy, feeding on basically anything that will fit into their mouth. They are characterised by a white stripe starting at the nose and leading down the neck, as well as a more ridged shell. In Australia, the public require a basic reptiles licence to purchase these turtles; taking from the wild is strictly prohibited.

Phylum:Chordata
Class:Reptilia
Suborder:Pleurodira
Quick facts Australian short-necked turtles, Scientific classification ...
Australian short-necked turtles
Macquarie turtle
Emydura macquarii
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Testudines
Suborder: Pleurodira
Family: Chelidae
Subfamily: Chelodininae
Genus: Emydura
Bonaparte, 1836[1]
Species

6, and see text

Synonyms[2][3]
  • Emydura Bonaparte 1836:7
  • Emydura
    Bonaparte 1836:7
  • Chelymys
    Gray 1844:42
  • Euchelymys
    Gray 1871:118
  • Tropicochelymys
    Wells and Wellington 1985:9
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Species

Species and notable subspecies arranged according to most recent review of Georges & Thomson, 2010[2] with some modification after Kehlmaier et al. 2019[6][2] are:

References

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