Aubry's flapshell turtle (''Cycloderma aubryi'') is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

softshell turtle Trionychidae is a family of turtles, commonly known as softshell turtles or simply softshells. The family was described by Leopold Fitzinger in 1826. Softshells include some of the world's largest freshwater turtles, though many can adapt to li ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Trionychidae Trionychidae is a family of turtles, commonly known as softshell turtles or simply softshells. The family was described by Leopold Fitzinger in 1826. Softshells include some of the world's largest freshwater turtles, though many can adapt to li ...

. The species is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Central Africa Central Africa (French language, French: ''Afrique centrale''; Spanish language, Spanish: ''África central''; Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''África Central'') is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries accordin ...

Etymology

The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

, ''aubryi'', is in honor of Charles Eugène Aubry-Lecomte (1821–1879), who was a French civil servant and an amateur naturalist.

Geographic range

''C. aubryi'' is found in the

Democratic Republic of Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

Gabon Gabon ( ; ), officially the Gabonese Republic (), is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and ...

, the

Cabinda Province Cabinda (formerly called Portuguese Congo, ) is an exclave and province of Angola, a status that has been disputed by several political organizations in the territory. The capital city is also called Cabinda, known locally as ''Tchiowa'', ''Tsi ...

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

and likely in the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to Central African Republic–Chad border, the north, Sudan to Central African Republic–Sudan border, the northeast, South Sudan to Central ...

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Habitat

The preferred natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

s of ''C. aubryi'' are

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

and freshwater wetlands, at altitudes up to .

Diet

Adults of ''C. aubryi''

prey Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not ki ...

upon

crab Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura (meaning "short tailed" in Greek language, Greek), which typically have a very short projecting tail-like abdomen#Arthropoda, abdomen, usually hidden entirely under the Thorax (arthropo ...

crayfish Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the infraorder Astacidea, which also contains lobsters. Taxonomically, they are members of the superfamilies Astacoidea and Parastacoidea. They breathe through feather-like gills. Some spe ...

, and

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

. Juveniles may also eat

insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...

Conservation status

In 2017, the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

listed ''C. aubryi'' as vulnerable.

References

* Bour R (2008). "The holotypes of ''Pentonyx gabonensis'' A. Duméril, 1856 and ''Cryptopodus aubryi'' A. Duméril, 1856". ''Emys'' 15 (3): 41–44. * Broadley DG (1998). "The reptilian fauna of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Congo-Kinshasa)". ''In:'' Schmidt KP, Noble GK (1998). ''Contributions to the Herpetology of the Belgian Congo''... eprint of the 1919 and 1923 papers SSAR Facsimile reprints in Herpetology, pp. 780. *Chirio, Laurent; Ineich, Ivan (2006). "Biogeography of the reptiles of the Central African Republic". ''African Journal of Herpetology'' 55 (1): 23–59. * Duméril AHA (1856). "''Note sur les reptiles du Gabon'' ". ''Revue et Magasin de Zoologie Pure et Appliquée, Paris'' econd Series8 : 369–377, 417–424, 460–470, 553–562. (in French). * Ernst CH, Barbour RW (1989). ''Turtles of the World.'' London and Washington, District of Columbia: Smithsonian Institution Press. *Gramentz, Dieter (1998). "''Zur Morphologie und Merkmalsvariation von'' Cycloderma aubryi. ''(Duméril, 1856)'' ". ''Salamandra'' 34 (4): 333–348. (in German). * Gray JE (1860). "On the African Trionyces with hidden feet (''Emyda'')". ''Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist.'' 6 (3): 440–441. * Günther A (1896). "Report on a collection of reptiles and fishes made by Miss M. H. Kingsley during her travels on the Ogowe river and in Old Calabar". ''Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist.'' 17 (6): 261–267. * McCord WP, Joseph-Ouni M (2003). "Chelonian Illustrations #6. Flapshell and Giant Asian Softshell Turtles". ''Reptilia'' (Great Britain) (26): 59–64. * Meylan PA(1987). "The phylogenetic relationships of soft-shelled turtles (Family Trionychidae)". ''Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist.'' 186 (1): 1–101. * Nieden F (1910). "''Die Reptilien (ausser der Schlangen) und Amphibien'' ". ''In:'' ''Die Fauna der deutschen Kolonien. Reihe 1. Kamerun Heft 2.'' Berlin. pp. 75. (in German). * Pauwels OSG, Vandeweghe JP (2008). ''Les reptiles du Gabon.'' Washington, District of Columbia: Smithsonian Institution. 272 pp. (in French). *Pauwels OSG; Branch, William R.; Burger, Marius (2004). "Reptiles of Loango National Park, OGOOUÉ-MARITIME PROVINCE, SOUTH-WESTERN GABON". ''Hamadryad'' 29 (1): 115–127. * Tornier G (1902). "''Die Crocodile, Schildkröten und Eidechsen in Kamerun'' ". ''Zool. Jahrb., Abt. Syst.'' 15 (6): 663–677. (in German). *Valverde J (2007). "''Weichschildkröten'' ". ''Reptilia (Münster)'' 12 (6): 16–23. (in German).

External links

*
Photos at Australian freshwater turtles.com.au
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2476966 Reptiles described in 1854 Taxa named by Auguste Duméril Cycloderma