''Hydromedusa'' is a

turtle Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked tu ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Chelidae Chelidae is one of three living families of the turtle suborder Pleurodira, and are commonly called Austro-South American side-neck turtles. The family is distributed in Australia, New Guinea, parts of Indonesia, and throughout most of South Amer ...

, commonly known as the South American snake-necked turtles. They are quite closely related to the

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

n side-necked swamp turtles (''

Acanthochelys ''Acanthochelys'' is a genus of turtles, the spiny swamp turtles, in the family Chelidae, subfamily Chelinae, found in South America. Until recently, the species of this genus were considered to be members of the genus '' Platemys'', but were mo ...

'') and the snake-necked turtles of the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Melanesia Melanesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It extends from Indonesia's New Guinea in the west to Fiji in the east, and includes the Arafura Sea. The region includes the four independent countries of Fiji, Va ...

n region (''

Chelodina ''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 se ...

''), but less closely to the spine-necked river turtles of South America (''

Podocnemididae Podocnemididae is a family of pleurodire (side-necked) turtles, once widely distributed. Most of its 20 genera and 30 species are now extinct. Seven of its eight surviving species are native to South America: the genus ''Peltocephalus'', with onl ...

'') which belong to a more modern lineage of

Pleurodira The Pleurodira are one of the two living suborders of turtles, the other being the Cryptodira. The division between these two suborders represents a very deep evolutionary divide between two very different types of turtles. The physical differen ...

Species

This genus contains the following extant and fossil species: *

Brazilian snake-necked turtle The Brazilian snake-necked turtle (''Hydromedusa maximiliani'' ), locally known as ''cágado da serra'', and also commonly known as Maximilian's snake-necked turtle, is a species of turtle in the family Chelidae. The species is endemic to south ...

, ''Cágado da Serra'', ''Hydromedusa maximiliani'' *

Argentine snake-necked turtle The Argentine snake-necked turtle (''Hydromedusa tectifera''),Zipcodezoo.com
URL acce ...

, ''Cágado pescoço de cobra'', ''Hydromedusa tectifera'' * ''

Hydromedusa casamayorensis ''Hydromedusa'' is a turtle genus in the family Chelidae, commonly known as the South American snake-necked turtles. They are quite closely related to the South American side-necked swamp turtles (''Acanthochelys'') and the snake-necked turtles ...

'' ,

Salamanca Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritag ...

and

Sarmiento Formation The Sarmiento Formation (Spanish: ''Formación Sarmiento''), in older literature described as the Casamayor Formation, is a geological formation in Chubut Province, Argentina, in central Patagonia, which spans around 30 million years from the mid- ...

s, Argentina

References

Turtle genera Turtles of South America Reptiles described in 1830 Taxa named by Johann Georg Wagler Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Extant Selandian first appearances {{turtle-stub