Black pond turtle

Black pond turtle
Conservation status
Vulnerable  (IUCN 2.3)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Subphylum:	Vertebrata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Testudines
Family:	Geoemydidae
Genus:	Geoclemys Gray, 1856
Species:	G. hamiltonii
Binomial name
Geoclemys hamiltonii (Gray, 1831)
Synonyms[2]
Emys hamiltonii Gray, 1831 Emys guttata Gray, 1831 Emys picquotii Lesson, 1831 Clemmys (Clemmys) hamiltonii — Fitzinger, 1835 Geoclemys hamiltonii — Gray, 1856 Damonia hamiltonii — Gray, 1869 Melanochelys pictus Murray, 1884 Clemmys palaeindica Lydekker, 1885 Damonia hamiltoni — Lydekker, 1889 (ex errore) Geoclemmys hamiltonii — Boulenger, 1889 Emys hamiltoni — M.A. Smith, 1931 Geoclemys hamiltoni — M.A. Smith, 1931

The black pond turtle (Geoclemys hamiltonii ), also known as the spotted pond turtle or the Indian spotted turtle, is a species of turtle endemic to South Asia.^[3] It belongs to the monotypic genus Geoclemys.

Etymology

The specific name, hamiltonii, is in honor of Scottish botanist and ichthyologist Francis Hamilton.^[4]

Description

G. hamiltonii is mainly black with small yellowish spots, and a much-elevated carapace, with three interrupted keels or series of nodose prominences corresponding to the vertebral and costal shields. The posterior border of the carapace is strongly serrated in young, but feebly in the adult. The nuchal is moderate, broader posteriorly than anteriorly. The first vertebral is not or scarcely broader anteriorly than posteriorly. The second and third vertebrals are broader than long in the young, nearly as long as broad in the adult, narrower than the costals. The plastron is large, angulate laterally, truncate anteriorly. The posterior lobe of the plastron is much narrower than the opening of the shell, nearly as long as the width of the bridge, deeply notched posteriorly. The head is rather large. The snout is very short, not projecting. The upper jaw is emarginated mesially. The width of the mandible at the symphysis nearly equals the horizontal diameter of the orbit. A large shield covers the upper surface of the snout and the crown, sometimes divided into three, one shield around the upper jaw and one on each side between the eye and the ear. The digits are webbed to the claws. The tail is extremely short. The shell is dark brown or blackish, elegantly marked with yellow spots and radiating streaks, and the soft parts are dark brown or blackish, with round yellow spots, largest on the head and neck.^[5]

Geographic range

G. hamiltonii is found in southern Pakistan (Indus and Ganges River drainages), northeastern India (Assam), and Bangladesh.

References

Further reading

• Das, I. 2002. A Photographic Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of India. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 144 pp. ISBN 0-88359-056-5. (Geoclemys hamiltonii, p. 125).
• Gray, J.E. 1831. Synopsis Reptilium or Short Descriptions of the Species of Reptiles. Part I: Cataphracta, Tortoises, Crocodiles, and Enaliosaurians. London: Treuttel, Wurz & Co. 85 pp. (Emys hamiltonii, new species, pp. 21, 72).
• Khan, Moh. A.R. 1982. Chelonians of Bangladesh and their conservation. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 79 (1): 110-116.
• Murray, J.A. 1884. Additions to the reptilian fauna of Sind. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Fifth Series 14: 106-111.
• Philippen, H.-D. 2004. "Geoclemys hamiltonii (Gray 1831) - Strahlen-Dreikielschildkröte ". Reptilia (Münster) 9 (5): 51-54.

External links

• Geoclemys hamiltonii at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database

Turtle family Geoemydidae
Genus	Species of the family Geoemydidae
Batagur	Burmese roofed turtle Northern river terrapin Painted terrapin Red-crowned roofed turtle Southern river terrapin Three-striped roofed turtle
Cuora	Amboina box turtle Bourret's box turtle Indochinese box turtle McCord's box turtle Keeled box turtle Pan's box turtle Southern Vietnamese box turtle Chinese three-striped box turtle Yellow-headed box turtle Yellow-margined box turtle Yunnan box turtle Zhou's box turtle
Cyclemys	Asian leaf turtle Assam leaf turtle Eastern black-bridged leaf turtle Enigmatic leaf turtle Myanmar brown leaf turtle Oldham's leaf turtle Western black-bridged leaf turtle
Geoclemys	Black pond turtle
Geoemyda	Black-breasted leaf turtle Ryukyu black-breasted leaf turtle
Hardella	Brahminy river turtle
Heosemys	Arakan forest turtle Giant Asian pond turtle Spiny turtle Yellow-headed temple turtle
Leucocephalon	Sulawesi forest turtle
Malayemys	Malayan snail-eating turtle Mekong snail-eating turtle
Mauremys	Balkan pond turtle Caspian turtle Chinese pond turtle Chinese stripe-necked turtle Japanese pond turtle Red-necked pond turtle Spanish pond turtle Vietnamese pond turtle Yellow pond turtle
Melanochelys	Indian black turtle Tricarinate hill turtle
Morenia	Burmese eyed turtle Indian eyed turtle
Notochelys	Malayan flat-shelled turtle
Orlitia	Malaysian giant turtle
Pangshura	Assam roofed turtle Brown roofed turtle Indian roofed turtle Indian tent turtle
Rhinoclemmys	Black river turtle Brown wood turtle Colombian wood turtle Furrowed wood turtle Large-nosed wood turtle Maracaibo wood turtle Mexican spotted wood turtle Painted wood turtle Spot-legged turtle
Sacalia	Beal's eyed turtle Four-eyed turtle
Siebenrockiella	Black marsh turtle Philippine forest turtle
Vijayachelys	Cane turtle
Phylogenetic arrangement based on turtles of the world 2011 update: annotated checklist.