Leith's softshell turtle

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Leith's softshell turtle
Leith's softshell turtle.jpg
Conservation status

Critically Endangered (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Testudines
Suborder: Cryptodira
Family: Trionychidae
Genus: Nilssonia
Species:
N. leithii
Binomial name
Nilssonia leithii
(Gray, 1872)[1]
Synonyms[2]
  • Trionyx javanicus
    — Gray, 1831
    (part)
  • Testudo gotaghol
    Buchanan-Hamilton, 1831
    (nomen nudum)
  • Aspilus gataghol
    — Gray, 1872
  • Trionyx leithii
    Gray, 1872
  • Isola leithii
    — Gray, 1873
  • Aspideretes leithii
    — O.P. Hay, 1904
  • Trionyx sulcifrons
    Annandale, 1915
  • Trionyx leithi
    M.A. Smith, 1931
    (ex errore)
  • Amyda leithi
    — Mertens, L. Müller & , 1934
  • Aspideretes leithi
    — Choudhury & , 1993
  • Trionys leithii
    ��� , 1996
  • Trionix leithi
    — Richard, 1999

Leith's softshell turtle (Nilssonia leithii) is a species of turtle in the family Trionychidae. The species is found in peninsular Indian rivers including the Bhavani, Godavari, and Moyar Rivers. The type locality is Pune in India.

Etymology[]

The specific name, leithii, is in honor of Andrew H. Leith, a physician with the Bombay Sanitary Commission.[3]

Description[]

Nilssonia leithii is intermediate between Nilssonia gangetica and Nilssonia hurum. It is like the former in the width of the interorbital apace, the comparatively short mandibular symphysis, and the markings of the head. It is like the latter in the longer and more pointed snout, the absence of a strong ridge on the inner alveolar surface of the mandible, and in the presence, in the young, of four or more dorsal ocelli, which are, however, smaller than in N. hurum.[4]

Adults may attain a straight carapace length of 64 cm (25 in).[5]

Diet[]

Nilssonia leithii preys on mosquito larvae, crabs, freshwater molluscs, and fish.[5]

Reproduction[]

The adult female N. leithii lays eggs in June. The eggs are spherical, and the diameter of each egg is 30 to 31 mm (1.2 in).[5]

Geographic range[]

Leith's softshell turtle is endemic to peninsular India in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu[1] and Odisha[1]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Praschag, P., Das, I., Choudhury, B.C. & Singh, S. (2021). "Nilssonia leithii ". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2021: e.T2174A2778380. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-1.RLTS.T2174A2778380.en.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ Fritz 2007, pp. 310–311
  3. ^ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Nilssonia leithii, p. 155).
  4. ^ Boulenger GA (1890). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Batrachia. London: Secretary of State for India in Council. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xviii + 541 pp. (Trionyx leithii, p. 12).
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c Das I (2002). Snakes and other Reptiles of India. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 144 pp. ISBN 0-88359-056-5. (Aspideretes leithii, p. 138).

Further reading[]

  • Gray JE (1872). "Notes on the Mud-Tortoises of India (Trionyx, Geoffroy)". Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Fourth Series 10: 326–340. (Trionyx leithii, new species, 334–335).

External links[]

External links[]

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