Emydura Explained

Emydura, the Australian short-necked turtles, are a genus of turtles in the family Chelidae. It was paraphyletic with Elseya. Consequently, it was split into two genera Myuchelys and Elseya by Thomson & Georges, 2009.^[1] They can grow quite large,^[2] 30 cm 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 varieties. They are considered omnivore 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 strip starting at their nose and leading down their neck, as well as a more rigged shell. In Australia, the public require a basic reptiles licence to purchase these animals; taking from the wild is strictly prohibited.

Species

Species and notable subspecies arranged according to most recent review of Georges & Thomson, 2010 with some modification after Kehlmaier et al. 2019^[3] are:

• Northern red-faced turtle, Emydura australis, (Gray, 1841)
• Emydura gunaleni, Smales, McCord, Cann, & Joseph-Ouni, 2019
• Macquarie turtle, Emydura macquarii, (Gray, 1830)^[4]
  • Murray river turtle, Emydura macquarii macquarii
  • Krefft's turtle, Emydura macquarii krefftii
  • Fraser island short-neck turtle, Emydura macquarii nigra
  • Cooper creek turtle, Emydura macquarii emmotti
• Red-bellied short-necked turtle or Jardine River Turtle, Emydura subglobosa, (Krefft 1876)^[5]
  • Red-bellied short-necked turtle, Emydura subglobosa subglobosa
  • Worrell's short-necked turtle, Emydura subglobosa worrelli
• Northern yellow-faced turtle, Emydura tanybaraga, Cann, 1997^[6]
• Victoria river red-faced turtle, Emydura victoriae, (Gray 1841)^[7]

Notes and References

1. Thomson, S. & Georges, A. (2009) Myuchelys gen. nov. —a new genus for Elseya latisternum and related forms of Australian freshwater turtle (Testudines: Pleurodira: Chelidae) Zootaxa 2053: 32–42.
2. News: Fitzsimmons . Craig . Desert turtle thriving in outback's boom or bust drought conditions . 24 December 2019 . ABC News . . 24 December 2019.
3. Kehlmaier, C., Zhang, X., Georges, A., Campbell, P.D., Thomson, S., & Fritz, U. 2019. Mitogenomics of historical type specimens of Australasian turtles: clarification of taxonomic confusion and old mitochondrial introgression. Scientific Reports (2019) 9:5841 | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-42310-x
4. Gray, J.E. 1830. A synopsis of the species of the class Reptilia. pp 1–110 in Griffith, E. The animal kingdom arranged in conformity with its organisation by the Baron Cuvier. London: Whitaker and Treacher and Co. 9:481 + 110pp.
5. [Gerard Krefft|Krefft, G.]
6. Cann, J. 1997. The northern yellow-faced turtle. Monitor 9(1):24-29, 34–35.
7. Gray, J.E. 1841. Description of some hitherto unrecorded species of Australian reptiles and batrachians. pp 51–57. in Gray, J.E. Zoological Miscellaney. London: Treutal, Wurtz and Co.