Hydromedusa

For the hydrozoa, see Anthoathecata.

Hydromedusa Temporal range: Paleocene-Recent ~62–0  Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Argentine snake-necked turtle, Hydromedusa tectifera
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Testudines
Suborder:	Pleurodira
Family:	Chelidae
Subfamily:	Hydromedusinae
Genus:	Hydromedusa Wagler 1830

Hydromedusa, commonly known as the South American snake-necked turtles, is a genus of turtles in the family Chelidae. They are quite closely related to the South American side-necked swamp turtles ( Acanthochelys ) and the snake-necked turtles of the Australian-Melanesian region ( Chelodina ), but less closely to the spine-necked river turtles of South America ( Podocnemididae ) which belong to a more modern lineage of Pleurodira.

Species

This genus contains the following three species:

• † Hydromedusa casamayorensis de la Fuente & Bona, 2002 – Salamanca and Sarmiento Formations, Argentina
• Hydromedusa maximiliani(Mikan, 1820) ^[1] – Brazilian snake-necked turtle
• Hydromedusa tectifera Cope, 1869 ^[2] – Argentine snake-necked turtle

References

1. Species Hydromedusa maximiliani at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
2. Species Hydromedusa tectifera at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.

Further reading

• Wagler, J (1830). Natürliches System der Amphibian, mit vorangehender Classification der Säugthiere und Vögel. Ein Beitrag zur vergleichenden Zoologie. Munich, Stuttgart and Tübingen: J.G. Cotta. vi + 354 pp. + one plate. (Hydromedusa, new genus, p. 135). (in German and Latin).

External links

• Molina, Francisco J.; Leynaud, Gerardo C. (2017). "Thermoconformity strategy in the freshwater turtle Hydromedusa tectifera (Testudines, Chelidae) in its southern distribution area". Journal of Thermal Biology69: 178–183. https://doi,org/10.1016/j.jtherbio.2017.07.008