''Elseya dentata'' (Gray, 1863),Gray, J.E. 1863. On the species of ''Chelymys'' from Australia, with the description of a new species. ''Annals and Magazine of Natural History''. 3(12):98-99 the northern snapping turtle, is a large aquatic

turtle Turtles are reptiles of the order (biology), order Testudines, characterized by a special turtle shell, shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Crypt ...

found throughout many rivers in northern

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

and the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

. It is one of three species in the nominate

subgenus In biology, a subgenus ( subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between the ge ...

''Elseya''.

Etymology

This species is named for the serrated margin of the shell, mostly only visible in younger animals.

Taxonomy

During their revision of the New Guinea ''Elseya'' a

lectotype In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes ...

was set for this species. Further it was placed in a

and as the type species of the genus it is therefore in the nominate subgenus.Thomson, S., Amepou, Y., Anamiato, J. & Georges, A. 2015. A new species and subgenus of ''Elseya'' (Testudines: Pleurodira: Chelidae) from New Guinea. ''Zootaxa'' 4006(1):59-82
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References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2517394 Elseya (Elseya) dentata Reptiles described in 1863 Taxa named by John Edward Gray Turtles of Australia