The Southeast Asian softshell turtle (''Amyda ornata'') is a species of

softshell turtle The Trionychidae are a taxonomic family of a number of turtle genera, commonly known as softshell turtles. The family was erected by Leopold Fitzinger in 1826. Softshells include some of the world's largest freshwater turtles, though many can a ...

in the family

Trionychidae The Trionychidae are a taxonomic family of a number of turtle genera, commonly known as softshell turtles. The family was erected by Leopold Fitzinger in 1826. Softshells include some of the world's largest freshwater turtles, though many can a ...

Taxonomy

It was formerly considered a subspecies of the

Asiatic softshell turtle The Asiatic softshell turtle or black-rayed softshell turtle (''Amyda cartilaginea'') is a species of softshell turtle in the Trionychidae family. Despite its name, it is not the only softshell turtle in Asia (most trionychines are Asian). T ...

(''A. cartilaginea''), which is now thought to be restricted to the

Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula (Malay: ''Semenanjung Tanah Melayu'') is a peninsula in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area ...

and the

Malay Archipelago The Malay Archipelago (Indonesian/Malay: , tgl, Kapuluang Malay) is the archipelago between mainland Indochina and Australia. It has also been called the " Malay world," "Nusantara", "East Indies", Indo-Australian Archipelago, Spices Archipe ...

. A 2014 phylogenetic study found both to be distinct species from one another. The

Reptile Database The Reptile Database is a scientific database that collects taxonomic information on all living reptile species (i.e. no fossil species such as dinosaurs). The database focuses on species (as opposed to higher ranks such as families) and has entrie ...

and

Turtle Taxonomy Working Group The Turtle Taxonomy Working Group (TTWG) is an informal working group of the IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group (TFTSG). It is composed of a number of leading turtle taxonomists, with varying participation by individual partici ...

also consider both to be distinct species. There are two subspecies: * ''A. o. ornata'' (Gray, 1861) ''–'' Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia * ''A. o. phayrei'' (Theobald, 1868) – India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand An undescribed subspecies is also known from Bangladesh, though the TTWG classifies it within ''A. o. phayrei''.

Distribution

The species is found throughout much of

Mainland Southeast Asia Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...

, and ranges from northwestern

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

south to southern

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

and east to

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

Description

Compared to ''A. cartilaginea'', ''A. ornata'' is of an "arrow headed form" and has a "lighter base color and a more diffuse yellow spotting, which is 'usually restricted to the cheeks, there are no ocelli but black dots may be present on the carapace, the nuchal tubercles are always weakly developed and the animals always show three (or rarely two) converging black lines on the head'". Along with ''Amyda ornata'' subspecies (unnamed) from Bangladesh and ''Amyda ornata phayrei'', ''Amyda ornata ornatas "morphology matches the turtles studied by Kuchling et al. 2004". In addition, ''Amyda ornata'' subspecies (unnamed) has "a rather uniform pale color and very large tubercles in the nuchal and back region of the carapace".

Status

The

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

presently groups ''A. ornata'' with ''A. cartilaginea'', and has found them to be Vulnerable due to overexploitation for consumption. A provisional assessment of ''A. ornata'' as a distinct species has also found it to qualify for a Vulnerable status.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q22943989 Amyda Turtles of Asia Reptiles described in 1861 Taxa named by John Edward Gray