Oblong turtle

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Oblong turtle
Chelodina oblonga 1.jpeg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Testudines
Suborder: Pleurodira
Family: Chelidae
Genus: Chelodina
Subgenus: Macrochelodina
Species:
C. oblonga
Binomial name
Chelodina oblonga
Gray, 1841:446 [2] [3]

The oblong turtle (Chelodina oblonga), also known commonly as the narrow-breasted snake-necked turtle and the southwestern snake-necked turtle, [4] is a species of turtle in the family Chelidae. The species is endemic to the southwestern part of Western Australia. [5]

Contents

The species has been successfully bred in captivity in Cologne Zoological Garden.

While all turtles are popularly believed to be mute, the oblong turtle is known to have a wide range of vocalizations. [6]

Etymology

The specific name, colliei, is in honor of Scottish physician and naturalist Alexander Collie. [7]

Taxonomic history

This species has a very complicated taxonomic history, involving many uses of the available names and a number of mistakes in that usage. [8] [9] In his original concept of the two species involved Gray 1841 [2] and 1856 [3] clearly diagnosed two species, one from northern and one from southwestern Australia. However these were considered a single wide-ranging species by Boulenger 1889. [10] This mistaken concept was followed for some time but was reviewed by Burbidge (1967). [11] Unfortunately they had mixed the names up as was brought out first by Thomson (2000) [8] and has been summarised also by Kuchling (2010). [9]

A submission to the ICZN was put in by Thomson (2006) [12] to maintain the prevailing usage of Chelodina rugosa over the name Chelodina oblonga for the northern snake-necked turtle with further comments by several authors. In 2013 the ICZN handed down its opinion [13] on the issue where they deemed that the Principle of Priority should be followed. According to that ruling, the correct name for the northern snake-necked turtle was Chelodina oblonga and for the south-western snake-necked turtle is Chelodina colliei. Although that ruling required considerable effort over the ensuing 12 months to establish this nomenclature, subsequent research has reversed this finding with respect to Chelodina oblonga.

Kehlmaier et al. (2019) [14] analyzed mitochondrial genomes of key type specimens and resolved several questions regarding taxonomy and nomenclature. They declared Chelodina oblonga a nomen dubium, affirmed Chelodina colliei as the southwestern snake-necked turtle, and called for the name Chelodina rugosa Ogilby, 1890 to be restored to the northern snake-necked turtle. This finding was supported by the findings of Shea et al. (2020) that the supposed holotype of Chelodina oblonga was in fact part of a type series and molecular work showed it was in fact from Perth. This led to a more detailed examination of its history and the determination that it was indeed the southwestern snake-necked turtle. [4] Thus, the correct name scientific names are Chelodina oblonga for the southwestern snake-necked turtle and Chelodina rugosa for the northern snake-necked turtle. [14] [4]

Synonymy

Synonymy of Chelodina oblonga, and redescriptions of the type specimens, per Shea, Thomson and Georges (2020):

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastern long-necked turtle</span> Species of turtle

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<i>Chelodina</i> Genus of turtles

Chelodina, collectively known as snake-necked turtles, is a large and diverse genus of long-necked chelid turtles with a complicated nomenclatural history. Although in the past, Macrochelodina and Macrodiremys have been considered separate genera and prior to that all the same, they are now considered subgenera of the Chelodina, further Macrochelodina and Macrodiremys are now known to apply to the same species, hence Chelydera is used for the northern snake-necked turtles.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parker's snake-necked turtle</span> Species of turtle

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern snake-necked turtle</span> Species of turtle

The northern snake-necked turtle or northern long-necked turtle is a species of turtle in the family Chelidae or Austro-South American Side-necked Turtles. It is native to northern Australia and southern New Guinea.

The Namoi River snapping turtle, also commonly known as Bell's turtle, the Namoi River elseya, or Bell's saw-shelled turtle, is a species of turtle in the family Chelidae. The species is endemic to New South Wales, Australia.

<i>Emydura</i> Genus of turtles

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. They can grow quite large, 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.

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<i>Chelodina canni</i> Species of turtle

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<i>Chelodina burrungandjii</i> Species of turtle

Chelodina (Chelydera) burrungandjii, the sandstone snake-necked turtle or Arnhem Land long-necked turtle, is a medium-sized turtle reaching carapace lengths of 316 mm. The species is found in the sandstone plateaus and escarpments and the plunge pools of Arnhem Land of the Northern Territory. The species had been long recognised as valid. However, it had been difficult to research due to the remoteness of its habitat. Efforts to breed this species in captivity had been largely unsuccessful, until National Aquarium Herpetologist Matthew Benedict lead a successful breeding project in 2021. The species occurs in proximity to Chelodina rugosa, to which it is closely related. For the most part the two species are parapatric in distribution. However, they do come together in limited locations such as plunge pools at the base of the escarpments. In these areas there is hybridization between the species.

<i>Emydura victoriae</i> Species of turtle

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<i>Chelodina kuchlingi</i> Species of turtle

Chelodina (Chelydera) kuchlingi, commonly known as Kuchling's long-necked turtle or Kuchling's turtle, is a species of freshwater turtle in the family Chelidae. The species is endemic to Australia.

Chelodina (Chelydera) walloyarrina, the Kimberley long neck turtle or Kimberley snake-necked turtle, is a large species of long neck turtle endemic to the Kimberley region of Western Australia. In recent years, it has been unclear as to whether this was a valid species or not. It has been recognised as such by the 2017 and 2021 editions of the Turtle Checklist. In a recent paper it waslisted as a subspecies of Chelodina burrungandjii by Kehlmaier et al. 2019, however, that publication did not actually assess the type of the species nore did it analyse it. Hence it should be considered a full species.

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Scott A. Thomson is an Australian herpetologist, paleontologist, and taxonomist, specialising in turtles of the family Chelidae.

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References

  1. ↑ Turtle Taxonomy Working Group [van Dijk , P.P., Iverson, J.B., Shaffer, H.B., Bour, R., and Rhodin, A.G.J.] (2012). Turtles of the World, 2012 update: annotated checklist of taxonomy, synonymy, distribution, and conservation status. Chelonian Research Monographs No. 5, pp. 000.243–000.328, doi:10.3854/crm.5.000.checklist.v5.2012, .
  2. 1 2 Gray, J.E. (1841). "A catalogue of the species of reptiles and amphibia hitherto described as inhabiting Australia, with a description of some new species from Western Australia, and some remarks on their geographical distribution". pp. 422–449. In: Grey, G. (editor) Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery in Northwest and Western Australia, vol. 2. Appendix. London: E.T. and W. Boone.
  3. 1 2 3 Gray, John Edward ("1855"). "On some new species of freshwater tortoises from North America, Ceylon and Australia, in the collection of the British Museum". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London23: 197–202. [Published Feb. 1856].
  4. 1 2 3 4 Shea, G., Thomson, S. & Georges, A. (2020). "The identity of Chelodina oblonga Gray 1841 (Testudines: Chelidae) reassessed". Zootaxa 4779(3): 419–437. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4779.3.9. PDF
  5. ↑ "Turtle Study at Hyde Park » City of Vincent". www.vincent.wa.gov.au. Retrieved 2021-08-14.
  6. ↑ Giles, Jacqueline C.; Davis, Jenny; McCauley, Robert D.; Kuchling, Gerald (2009). "Voice of the Turtle: The Underwater Acoustic Repertoire of the Long-necked Freshwater Turtle, Chelodina oblonga". The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. 126 (1): 434–443. Bibcode:2009ASAJ..126..434G. doi: 10.1121/1.3148209 . PMID   19603900.
  7. ↑ 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. (Chelodina colliei, p. 57).
  8. 1 2 3 Thomson, S.A. (2000). "The identification of the holotype of Chelodina oblonga (Testudines: Chelidae) with a discussion of taxonomic implications". Chelonian Conservation and Biology3: 745–749.
  9. 1 2 Kuchling, G. (2010). "Taxonomy and nomenclature of the longneck turtle (genus Chelodina) from south-western Australia". Records of the Western Australian Museum25: 449–454.
  10. ↑ Boulenger, G.A. (1889). Catalogue of the Chelonians, Rhynchocephalians, and Crocodiles in the British Museum (Natural History). New Edition. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). x + 311 pp. + Plates I-VI. (Chelodina oblonga, pp. 216-217).
  11. ↑ Burbidge, A.A. (1967). The biology of south western Australian tortoises. PhD thesis, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.
  12. ↑ Thomson, S.A. (2006). "Chelodina rugosa Ogilby, 1890 (currently Macrochelodina rugosa; Reptilia, Testudines): proposed precedence over Chelodina oblonga Gray, 1841". Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature63: 187–193.
  13. ↑ ICZN (2013). "Opinion 2315 (Case 3351). Chelodina rugosa Ogilby, 1890 (currently Macrochelodina rugosa; Reptilia, Testudines): precedence not granted over Chelodina oblonga Gray, 1841". Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature70 (1): 57-60.
  14. 1 2 Kehlmaier, Christian; Zhang, Xiuwen; Georges, Arthur; Campbell, Patrick D.; Thomson, Scott; Fritz, Uwe (2019). "Mitogenomics of historical type specimens of Australasian turtles: clarification of taxonomic confusion and old mitochondrial introgression". Scientific Reports. 9 (1): 5841. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-42310-x . PMC   6456567 . PMID   30967590.
  15. ↑ McCord, William P.; Joseph-Ouni, Mehdi (2007b). "A new genus of Australian longneck turtle (Testudines: Chelidae) and a new species of Macrochelodina from the Kimberley region of Western Australia (Australia)". Reptilia (GB) (Barcelona) 55: 56–64.
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