''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 t ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

in the

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

Chelidae, 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 sout ...

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 Australian-

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 s ...

''), 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 o ...

'') 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'' ,

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 Herit ...

and Sarmiento Formations, 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