The Mekong snail-eating turtle (''Malayemys subtrijuga'') is a species of

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 ...

in the family

Geoemydidae The Geoemydidae (formerly known as Bataguridae) are one of the largest and most diverse families in the order Testudines (turtles), with about 70 species. The family includes the Eurasian pond and river turtles and Neotropical wood turtles. Memb ...

. It was

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

within the genus ''

Malayemys ''Malayemys'' is a genus of turtles in the family Geoemydidae. It was considered monotypic until 2005 It is found in several countries of Southeast Asia. Taxonomy The genus description is attributed to Wassili Adolfovitch Lindholm in 1931. ''Dam ...

'' until Brophy (2004, 2005) reevaluated (based on morphology) ''

Malayemys macrocephala The Malayan snail-eating turtle (''Malayemys macrocephala'') is a species of turtle in Malayemys genus of the family Geoemydidae. Distribution The Malayan snail-eating turtle is found in the Cambodia, Myanmar, west Malaysia and Thailand (coasta ...

'' (Gray, 1859),Gray, John Edward. (1859). Description of a new species of freshwater tortoise from Siam. ''Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London'' 1859(27):478–479. which has been long time considered to be a synonym of ''M. subtrijuga''.

Distribution

The Mekong snail-eating turtle is found in the

Mekong River basin The Mekong or Mekong River is a trans-boundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's twelfth longest river and the third longest in Asia. Its estimated length is , and it drains an area of , discharging of water annuall ...

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

, southern

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 ...

, and

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

and the northern

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

Java, Indonesia Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

. It could have been introduced to Java via human intervention from the Mekong River Basin. The occurrence of the species in Indonesia is regarded by Brophy (2005) to be allochthonous, i.e., non-native (

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

) or extinct (Java)

References

Geoemydidae Reptiles described in 1845 Reptiles of Cambodia Reptiles of Laos Reptiles of Thailand Reptiles of Vietnam Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Turtle-stub