''Chelodina'', collectively known as snake-necked turtles, is a large and diverse genus of long-necked

chelid 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 ...

turtles with a complicated

nomenclatural Nomenclature (, ) is a system of names or terms, or the rules for forming these terms in a particular field of arts or sciences. The principles of naming vary from the relatively informal conventions of everyday speech to the internationally agree ...

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. ''Chelodina'' is an ancient group of

turtles native to

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 ...

, New Guinea, the Indonesian Rote Island, and East Timor. The turtles within this subgenus are small to medium-sized with oval shaped

carapace A carapace is a Dorsum (biology), dorsal (upper) section of the exoskeleton or shell in a number of animal groups, including arthropods, such as crustaceans and arachnids, as well as vertebrates, such as turtles and tortoises. In turtles and tor ...

. They are side-necked turtles, meaning they tuck their head partially around the side of their body when threatened instead of directly backwards. ''Chelydera'' represents those species that have often been termed the ''Chelodina'' B group or thick necked snake neck turtles. The subgenus was described in 2020 by Thomson & Georges (in Shea et al. 2020). They are a side-neck turtle of the family Chelidae with extremely long necks and long flattened heads. They are specialist fish eaters using a strike and gape mode of feeding. They are medium to large species with the largest ''Chelodina (Chelydera) expansa'' reaching shell lengths of some .Macrochelodina expansa (Grey, 1856) - Broad-Shelled Turtle
The first fossils (''C. (Chelydera) alanrixi'') are known from Queensland from the Eocene period (Lapparent de Broin, F. de, & Molnar, R. E., 2001). ''Macrochelodina'' (Wells & Wellington, 1985) is a monotypic subgenus of the ''Chelodina''. Its sole member is the enigmatic ''Chelodina'' (''Macrochelodina'') ''oblonga'' from Western Australia.

Taxonomy

Current taxonomy follows that of Georges & Thomson, 2010 with updates from van Dijk et al. 2014 and Shea et al. 2020. Synonymous names for the ''Chelodina'' Fitzinger 1826 genus include: ''Hydraspis'' Bell 1828, ''Chelyodina'' Agassiz 1846:79 (

nomen novum In biological nomenclature, a ''nomen novum'' (Latin for "new name"), new replacement name (or replacement name, new substitute name, substitute name) is a scientific name that is created specifically to replace another scientific name, but only w ...

), ''Hesperochelodina'' Wells and Wellington 1985 (

nomen nudum In taxonomy, a ''nomen nudum'' ('naked name'; plural ''nomina nuda'') is a designation which looks exactly like a scientific name of an organism, and may have originally been intended to be one, but it has not been published with an adequate descr ...

). The type species for the ''Chelodina'' subgenus is '' Chelodina longicollis'' (Shaw, 1794). The type species for the ''Chelydera'' subgenus is ''

Chelodina parkeri Parker's snake-necked turtle (''Chelodina parkeri'') is a species of turtle in the family Chelidae. Taxonomy and etymology The specific name ''parkeri'', is in honor of Australian naturalist Fred Parker Frederick or Fred Parker may refer to: ...

'' Rhodin and Mittermeier 1976. The type species for ''Macrochelodina'' is '' Chelodina oblonga'' Gray 1841.

List of species

Extinct species

Holotype of Chelodina insculpta de Vis (1897)

There are three identified extinct species of Chelodina: *'' Chelodina alanrixi'' de Broin and Molnar, 2001 is a species of snake-necked fossil turtle which was described in 2001 using material gathered in Redbank Plains, Queensland,

. It is a member of the

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 ...

Pleurodira. The fossil has been dated to the Eocene Epoch. *''

Chelodina insculpta ''Chelodina insculpta'' is an extinct species of snake-necked turtle 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 Aus ...

'' de Vis, 1897de Vis, C.W. (1897). The extinct freshwater turtles of Queensland. ''Annals of the Queensland Museum'' 3: 3-7. is an extinct species of

snake-necked turtle 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 ...

that was described in 1897 from material gathered in Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia, restricted.Thomson, S. A. 2000. A Revision of the Fossil Chelid Turtles (Pleurodira) Described by C.W. De Vis, 1897. ''Memoirs of the Queensland Museum'' 45(2):593-598. It is a member of the Chelidae; Pleurodira. The fossil has been dated as Pliocene to Pleistocene. *''

Chelodina murrayi ''Chelodina murrayi'' is an extinct species of snake-necked turtle from the Waite Formation on the Alcoota Scientific Reserve, north-east of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory of Australia. The species would appear to belong to the ''Chel ...

'' Yates, 2013 is an extinct species of

from the Waite Formation on the Alcoota Scientific Reserve, north-east of

Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...

in the Northern Territory of Australia. The species would appear to belong to the ''

Chelodina novaeguineae The New Guinea snake-necked turtle (''Chelodina novaeguineae'') is a species of turtle in the family Chelidae. The species is found almost exclusively within Western Province, Papua New Guinea. Turtle Taxonomy Working Group hodin, A.G.J., Ivers ...

'' group of species within the subgenus ''Chelodina''.

Notes

References

External links

Overview of the genus ''Chelodina'' with original literature
{{Taxonbar , from=Q532358 Turtles of Australia Turtle genera Taxa named by Leopold Fitzinger