Taxus Baccata

by | Mar 15, 2018 | Taxus Baccata

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Phrynops hilarii, also commonly known as Hilaire’s side-necked turtle and Hilaire's toadhead turtle, is a species of freshwater turtle in the family Chelidae. The species is endemic to South America.

Etymology

The specific name, hilarii, is in honor of French zoologist Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire.[4]

Geographic range

P. hilarii is found in southern Brazil (Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul), southward and westward into Uruguay and Argentina, and possibly also in Paraguay and Bolivia.[5]

Habitat

P. hilarii inhabits streams, lakes, and swamps with abundant aquatic vegetation and soft bottoms.[6]

Description

Phrynops hilarii swimming in captivity.
Phrynops hilarii

P. hilarii has an oval, flattened carapace, with a maximum straight-line length of approximately 40 cm (16 in), weighing approximately 5 kg (11 lb). The carapace is usually dark brown, olive, or gray, with a yellow border. The head is large and flat, gray to olive above, with a pointed snout and two bicolored chin barbels. There is a black band on each side of the head, which comes out of the muzzle and passes over the eyes, going up to the neck. [7][6]

Biology

An omnivorous species, P. hilarii mainly feeds on arthropods, with a preference for copepods, ostracods, and hemipterans.[8] It feeds also on fishes, reptiles, birds, small mammals, and carrion.[citation needed] It is oviparous.[5] This turtle can live for up to 37 years.[9]

Females lay eggs twice a year, one clutch between February and May and the other between September and December.[citation needed] They lay from 9 to 14 eggs, with a maximum of 32 eggs and an incubation period of approximately 150 days.[citation needed]

References

  1. ^ Duméril, André Marie Constant; Bibron, Gabriel (1835). Erpétologie Générale ou Histoire Naturelle Complète des Reptiles. Tome Second. Paris: Roret. 680 pp. (Platemys hilarii, new species, pp. 428-430). (in French).
  2. ^ Fritz, Uwe; Havaš, Peter (2007). "Checklist of Chelonians of the World". Vertebrate Zoology. 57 (2): 341. doi:10.3897/vz.57.e30895. ISSN 1864-5755.
  3. ^ van Dijk, Peter Paul; Iverson, John B.; Shaffer, H. Bradley; Bour, Roger; Rhodin, Anders G.J. (2012). "Turtles of the World, 2012 Update: Annotated Checklist of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution, and Conservation Status". Chelonian Research Monographs (5): 000.243–000.328.
  4. ^ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Phrynops hilarii, p. 123).
  5. ^ a b Species Phrynops hilarii at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
  6. ^ a b "Phrynops hilarii ". Turtles of the World
  7. ^ Cabrera, Mario R.; Colantonio, Sonia E. (2001). "Ontogenetic variation of plastral spotting pattern in Phrynops hilarii (Testudines, Chelidae)" Iheringia, Sér. Zool., Porto Alegre (91): 115–122.
  8. ^ Alcalde, Leandro; Derocco, Natacha Nara; Rosset, Sergio Daniel (2010). "Feeding in Syntopy: Diet of Hydromedusa tectifera and Phrynops hilarii (Chelidae)" Chelonian Conservation and Biology 9 (1): 3–344.
  9. ^ "Phrynops hilarii ". AnAge: The Animal Ageing and Longevity Database

Further reading

  • Boulenger, George Albert (1889). Catalogue of the Chelonians, Rhynchocephalians, and Crocodiles in the British Museum (Natural History). New Edition. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). x + 311 pp. + Plates I-III. (Hydraspis hilarii: p. 220, figure 59, three views of skull; p. 221, figure 60, carapace and plastron; p. 222, species description).



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