''Podocnemis'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of aquatic turtles, commonly known as South American river turtles, 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 ...

Podocnemididae Podocnemididae is a family of pleurodire (side-necked) turtles, once widely distributed. Most of its 41 genera and 57 species are now extinct. Seven of its eight surviving species are native to South America: the genus '' Peltocephalus'', with tw ...

. The genus consists of six

extant Extant or Least-concern species, least concern is the opposite of the word extinct. It may refer to: * Extant hereditary titles * Extant literature, surviving literature, such as ''Beowulf'', the oldest extant manuscript written in English * Exta ...

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), ...

occurring in tropical

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

.''Podocnemis''
The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org. Four additional species are known only from fossils. These

turtles Turtles are reptiles of the order 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 turtle ...

have pig-like noses but are not closely related to the

pig-nosed turtle The pig-nosed turtle (''Carettochelys insculpta''), also known as the Fly River turtle, the pitted-shelled turtle, and the Warrajan is a species of turtle which is native to northern Australia and southern New Guinea. It is the only living mem ...

Species

These six species are extant. *''Podocnemis erythrocephala'' –

red-headed Amazon River turtle The red-headed Amazon side-necked turtle, red-headed river turtle or red-headed sideneck (''Podocnemis erythrocephala'') is a species of turtle in the family Podocnemididae. It is found in the Amazon basin in Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela. D ...

*''Podocnemis expansa'' –

Arrau turtle The Arrau turtle (''Podocnemis expansa''), also known as the South American river turtle, giant South American turtle, giant Amazon River turtle, Arrau sideneck turtle, Amazon River turtle or simply the Arrau, is the largest of the side-neck tu ...

*''Podocnemis lewyana'' – Magdalena River turtle *''Podocnemis sextuberculata'' – six-tubercled Amazon River turtle *''Podocnemis unifilis'' –

yellow-spotted river turtle The yellow-spotted Amazon river turtle (''Podocnemis unifilis''), also known commonly as the yellow-headed sideneck turtle and the yellow-spotted river turtle, and locally as the taricaya, is one of the largest South American river turtles. '' ...

, yellow-headed sideneck *''Podocnemis vogli'' – savanna side-necked turtle ''

Nota bene ( ; plural: ) is the Latin language, Latin phrase meaning ''note well''. In manuscripts, ''nota bene'' is abbreviated in upper-case as NB and N.B., and in lower-case as n.b. and nb; the editorial usages of ''nota bene'' and ''notate bene'' fi ...

'': A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than ''Podocnemis''.

Fossil species

The following four species are extinct, all from Neogene deposits in South America: *'' Podocnemis bassleri'' † *'' Podocnemis medemi'' †Wood RC (1997). "Turtles". In: Kay RF, Madden RH, Cifelli RL, Flynn JJ (editors). ''Vertebrate Paleontology in the Neotropics. The Miocene Fauna of La Venta, Colombia''. Washington, District of Columbia: Smithsonian Institution Press. * '' Podocnemis pritchardi'' † * '' Podocnemis tatacoensis'' †Cadena & Vanegas, 2023. Podocnemis bassleri AMNH 1662 cast

The Late Cretaceous (

Cenomanian The Cenomanian is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy's (ICS) geological timescale, the oldest or earliest age (geology), age of the Late Cretaceous epoch (geology), Epoch or the lowest stage (stratigraphy), stage of the Upper Cretace ...

) species ''"Podocnemis" parva'' Haas, 1978, based on remains from the

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

, is now assigned to '' Algorachelus'', as ''A. parvus''.

Species

Fossil species

References

Further reading