Roti Island snake-necked turtle

McCord's snake -necked turtle ( Chelodina mccordi )

McCord's snake -necked turtle ( Chelodina mccordi ) is an extremely endangered Schildkrötenartenart from the island of Roti (also known as Red Iceland or Indonesian as Pulau Roti ), southwest of Timor. It belongs to the genus of Australian snake -necked turtle ( Chelodina ) in the family of snake -necked turtles ( Chelidae ). 2007, a new subspecies in East Timor was discovered.

Description

McCord's snake -necked turtle in 1994, described by Anders Rhodin, director of the Chelonian Research Foundation in Lunenburg (Massachusetts ) as a separate species. Previously, she was regarded as an isolated population of the New Guinea Snake -necked turtle ( Chelodina Kookaburra ), which was discovered in 1891 on Roti Iceland. It was named after William McCord, a veterinarian and turtle experts from Hopewell Junction, New York.

The carapace can reach a length of 18 to 24 cm, the neck is about the same length. The color of the carapace is light gray-brown. Some specimens, however, are also stained dark maroon. The plastron is yellow white pale. The neck is dark brown on the upper side covered with round tubercles. The underside is yellow white. The iris is black and surrounded by a white ring. Their habitat are swamps, rice terraces and small lakes.

Reproduction

A clutch can consist of 8 to 14 eggs and there can be up to three clutches per year. The size of the eggs is 30 × 20 mm and weight of 8 to 10 g The first young hatch after three months, the last only after four. At hatching they are 28 × 20 mm long and have yellow spots on the plastron, which are always darker with time until the plastron is colored almost completely black after a few weeks. During adolescence, the color is pale again, until they finally reach the yellow-white coloration of the adult.

Endangering

McCord's snake -necked turtle is limited to a 70- km ² area in the Central Highlands of Iceland Roti. Two to three small populations still exist in wetlands, which also shrink more and more. Although the legal trade has been banned since 2001 and this species is protected under Appendix II of CITES since 2004, it is still captured over for the exotic pet trade. An islander who catches these turtles, earned $ 100 per animal. This is more than a year's income on Roti.

Timor turtle

First time in 2007 a ​​subspecies of McCord's snake -necked turtle from East Timor has been described. It occurs only in the small area of ​​the lake Ira Lalaro in the far east of the country. It shows features that they Kookaburra between McCord's snake -necked turtle Chelodina and ask from New Guinea. Your exact assignment is not yet secured. By some authors, it is regarded as a separate species and called Timor turtle ( Chelodina timorensis ).