Burmese flapshell turtle

Species of turtle

Burmese flapshell turtle
Conservation status

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
CITES Appendix II (CITES)[2]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Testudines
Suborder: Cryptodira
Family: Trionychidae
Genus: Lissemys
Species:
L. scutata
Binomial name
Lissemys scutata
(W. Peters, 1868)
Synonyms[3]
  • Emyda scutata
    W. Peters, 1868
  • Emyda fuscomaculata
    Gray, 1873
  • Emyda granosa scutata
    — Annandale, 1912
  • Lissemys punctata scutata
    — M.A. Smith, 1931
  • Trionyx punctatus scutatus
    — Mertens, L. Müller & Rust, 1934
  • Lissemys scutata
    — Webb, 1982

The Burmese flapshell turtle (Lissemys scutata), is a species in the family Trionychidae. The species is endemic to Asia.

Taxonomy

Some experts (M.A. Smith, 1931; Mertens, L. Müller & Rust, 1934) considered L. scutata to be a subspecies of L. punctata rather than its own species.

Description

L. scutata has an olive-brown to brown carapace with some dark spotting (in juveniles) or reticulations (in adults), and the first peripheral is smaller than the second. The head is olive to brown with an indistinct dark stripe extending backward from each orbit and another passing backward between the orbits.

Distribution and habitat

L. scutata lives in the Irrawaddy and Salween rivers of Myanmar, the vicinities of Bhamo, Pathein, Chauk, Yangon, Bago, and Mawlamyine in Myanmar,[4] northeastern Thailand, and possibly in Yunnan Province, China (Kuchling, 1995).

Ecology and behavior

Diet

The Burmese flapshell turtle is a piscivore.[5]

Life cycle

L. scutata reproduces sexually. It is oviparous.[5]

Conservation

Although the Burmese flapshell turtle is listed as Least Concern, some speculate it may be Vulnerable as it is traded in large numbers in East Asian food markets. However, not enough research has been done to come to a conclusion on this species' conservation status.

References

  1. ^ Horne, B.D.; Praschag, P.; Platt, K. (2021). "Lissemys scutata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2021: e.T12124A505402. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-1.RLTS.T12124A505402.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. ^ "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  3. ^ Fritz, Uwe; Havaš, Peter (2007). "Checklist of Chelonians of the World". Vertebrate Zoology. 57 (2): 316. doi:10.3897/vz.57.e30895. ISSN 1864-5755.
  4. ^ "Lissemys scutata". The Reptile Database. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
  5. ^ a b "Burmese Flapshell Turtle - Encyclopedia of Life". eol.org. Retrieved 2020-06-26.

Further reading

  • Kuchling, Gerald (1995). "Turtles at a market in western Yunnan: Possible range extensions for some southern Asiatic chelonians in China and Myanmar". Chelonian Conserv. Biol. 1 (3): 223–226.
  • Peters W (1868). "Eine Mittheilung über eine neue Nagergattung, Chiropodomys pencillatus, so wie über einige neue oder weniger bekannte Amphibien und Fische ". Monatsberichte der Königlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin 1868: 448-461 + two plates. (Emyda scutata, new species, p. 449). (in German).
  • Smith MA (1931). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Amphibia. Vol. I.—Loricata, Testudines. London: Secretary of State for India in Council. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xxviii + 185 pp. + Plates I-II. (Lissemys punctata scutata, new combination, pp. 159–160 + Figure 34 on p. 155).
  • Webb RG (1982). "Taxonomic notes concerning the trionychid turtle Lissemys punctata (Lacepede)". Amphibia-Reptilia 3 (2-3): 179–184.
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Genera
Species of the Trionychidae family
AmydaApaloneAxestemys
  • Axestemys byssina
  • Axestemys cerevisia
  • Axestemys montinsana
  • Axestemys quinni
  • Axestemys splendida
  • Axestemys vittata
ChitraCyclanorbisCyclodermaDoganiaGilmoremys
Hutchemys
  • Hutchemys arctochelys
  • Hutchemys rememdium
  • Hutchemys tetanetron
  • Hutchemys sterea
  • Hutchemys acupictus
Khunnuchelys
  • Khunnuchelys erinhotensis
  • Khunnuchelys kizylkumensis
  • Khunnuchelys lophorhothon
LissemysNilssoniaPalaeoamyda
  • Palaeoamyda messeliana
PaleaPelochelysPelodiscusRafetusTrionyx
Phylogenetic arrangement of turtles based on turtles of the world 2017 update: Annotated checklist and atlas of taxonomy, synonymy, distribution, and conservation status. †=extinct.
  • v
  • t
  • e
Suborder
Superfamily
Family
Cryptodira
Chelonioidea
(Sea turtles)
Cheloniidae
Dermochelyidae
 
Kinosternoidea
Dermatemydidae
Kinosternidae
Testudinoidea
Emydidae
Geoemydidae
 Platysternidae
Testudinidae
Trionychia
Carettochelyidae
Trionychidae
 
 
Chelydridae
Nanhsiungchelyidae
Protostegidae
 
Pleurodira
 
Araripemydidae
Bothremydidae
Chelidae
Pelomedusidae
Podocnemididae
Sahonachelyidae
 
 
 
  • Phylogenetic arrangement of turtles based on Turtles of the World 2017 Update: Annotated Checklist and Atlas of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution, and Conservation Status. † = extinct.
Taxon identifiers
Lissemys scutata