Rafetus

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Rafetus
Temporal range: 15.97–0 Ma
PreꞒ
Ꞓ
O
S
D
C
P
T
J
K
Pg
N
Rùa Đồng Mô.jpg
Rafetus swinhoei in Hanoi, Vietnam
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Testudines
Suborder: Cryptodira
Family: Trionychidae
Subfamily: Trionychinae
Genus: Rafetus
Gray, 1864
Species

Two or three, see text.

Rafetus is a genus of highly endangered softshell turtles in the family Trionychidae. It is a genus of large turtles which are found in freshwater habitats in Asia.

Species[]

According to most taxonomists, the genus Rafetus contains the following two species.

  • Rafetus euphraticus (Daudin, 1801) – Euphrates softshell turtle
  • Rafetus swinhoei (Gray, 1873) – Yangtze giant softshell turtle

A third species, Rafetus leloii , 2000 (synonym R. vietnamensis et al., 2010), known commonly as the Hoan Kiem turtle, has been proposed as a species. It is considered a junior synonym of Rafetus swinhoei by most authorities,[1] but some Vietnamese scientists insist the two forms are not identical. The last known individual at Hoan Kiem Lake was found dead on 19 January 2016.

Taxonomy[]

Cladogram[]

As drawn by Walter G. Joyce, Ariel Revan, Tyler R. Lyson, and Igor G. Danilov (2009)[2]

 Trionychidae 
 
 Cyclanorbinae 
 

Cyclanorbis

 
 
 

Cycloderma

 
 

Lissemys

 
 
 
 † 
 

Hutchemys

 
 

 
 
 
 Trionychinae 
 
 
 

Trionyx

 
 
 

Chitra

 
 

Pelochelys

 
 
 
 
 

Apalone

 
 

Rafetus

 
 
 
 
 
 

Amyda

 
 

Aspideretes

 
 

Nilssonia

 
 
 
 

Dogania

 
 

Palea

 
 

Pelodiscus

 
 
 
 
 

Distribution[]

  • Rafetus euphraticus: had been found at Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and Khūzestān Province of Iran. The International Union for Conservation of Nature rates it as Endangered.[3]
  • Rafetus swinhoei: Only three known living individuals, one in Suzhou Zoo (China) and two in two lakes in northern Vietnam, Dong Mo lake and Xuan Khanh lake. IUCN rates it as critically endangered.[4]

References[]

  1. ^ Farkas B, Webb RG (2003). "Rafetus leloii Hà Dinh Dúc, 2000 — an invalid species of softshell turtle from Hoan Kiem Lake, Hanoi, Vietnam (Reptilia, Testudines, Trionychidae)". Zool. Abhandl. (Dresden) 53: 107-112.
  2. ^ Joyce, Walter G.; Revan, Ariel; Lyson, Tyler R.; Danilov, Igor G. (2009). "Two New Plastomenine Softshell Turtles from the Paleocene of Montana and Wyoming" (PDF). Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History. 50 (2): 307–325. doi:10.3374/014.050.0202. S2CID 85505337.
  3. ^ Ghaffari, H.; Taskavak, E.; Turkozan, O.; Mobaraki, A. (2017). "Rafetus euphraticus ". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017.
  4. ^ Asian Turtle Trade Working Group (2000). "Rafetus swinhoei ". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2000.

External links[]

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