Merauke snapping turtle

Merauke snapping turtle
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Testudines
Suborder: Pleurodira
Family: Chelidae
Genus: Elseya
Species:
E. papua
Binomial name
Elseya papua

The Merauke snapping turtle (Elseya papua) is a species of recently described chelid turtle native to the Merauke River basin of the South Papua Province in Indonesia.[1][2]

Description

The holotype, an adult female, was collected in 1994 near Muting, Indonesia and the species was formally described by Mehdi Joseph-Ouni and William P. McCord in 2022. Adult specimens exhibit many neotenous traits not found in other Elseya species including an almost completely circular carapace, a relatively distinct peaked vertebral keel as well as strongly flared rear marginals. Its closest relatives are potentially the Branderhorst's snapping turtle and the Southern New Guinea stream turtle, with whom the Merauke snapping turtle share their habitat with.[2]

References

  1. ^ Elseya papua at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 9 April 2026.
  2. ^ a b "A new species of Elseya (Testudines:Chelidae) from the Merauke river region, Indonesia (The Batagur Monographs)" (PDF). PondTurtle. Retrieved 9 April 2026.
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