Vanderhaege's toad-headed turtle (''Mesoclemmys vanderhaegei'') is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

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 ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Chelidae Chelidae is one of three living families of the turtle suborder Pleurodira, and are commonly called Austro-South American side-neck turtles. The family is distributed in Australia, New Guinea, parts of Indonesia, and throughout most of South Amer ...

. The species is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

Etymology

The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

, ''vanderhaegei'', is in honor of

Maurice Vanderhaege Maurice may refer to: *Maurice (name), a given name and surname, including a list of people with the name Places * or Mauritius, an island country in the Indian Ocean *Maurice, Iowa, a city *Maurice, Louisiana, a village *Maurice River, a trib ...

, who is an expert in breeding reptiles in terraria.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Mesoclemmys vanderhaegei'', p. 272).

Description

''M. vanderhaegei'' may grow to a

carapace A carapace is a dorsal (upper) section of the exoskeleton or shell in a number of animal groups, including arthropods, such as crustaceans and arachnids, as well as vertebrates, such as turtles and tortoises. In turtles and tortoises, the unde ...

length of . The ellipsoidal carapace, similar to that of ''M. gibbus'' but with a low medial groove, is somewhat serrated with a shallow subcaudal notch, and usually broadest at the 8th marginals and highest on the 3rd vertebral. Some rough striations may occur on the scutes. Vertebrals are broader than long. The carapace is brown to gray or black. The plastron covers much of the carapacial opening, is slightly upturned anteriorly, and is posteriorly notched. The intergular scute completely separates the gulars, but not the humerals, and is slightly shorter than, or about the same length as, its distance from the abdominals. The plastral formula is variable, but the femoral, abdominal and intergular scutes are usually longest. The plastron is yellow with a brown to black pattern which usually extends between the pectorals and femorals. Head and neck are considerably shorter than the carapace. The snout slightly protrudes and the upper jaw is neither notched nor serrated. Head and neck are gray, throat and chin yellow, and the yellowish upper jaws are seldom marked with dark pigment. Some orange vermiculations may occur on the head, and the lower jaw may be red. Other skin is gray to olive, and there is a fringe of large scales on the outer border of the forelimbs. Males have slightly longer, thicker tails with the vent nearer the tip, and a deep plastral notch. Females have a shallow plastral notch.

Habitat and geographic range

''Mesoclemmys vanderhaegei'' is known only from densely vegetated rivers and swamps in southern

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

, and northern

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

; possibly it also occurs in

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

and

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

Natural history

Vanderhaege's toad-headed turtle is little known. ''M. vanderhaegei'' is diurnally active and carnivorous, and was characterized by

Cei CEI may refer to: Organizations * Central European Initiative, a forum of regional cooperation in Central and Eastern Europe * Clean Energy Institute, a renewable energy research institute at the University of Washington, in Seattle, Washington, ...

(1993) as aggressive, with a ferocious temper.

Reproduction

Cei (1993) reports that the ellipsoidal eggs of ''M. vanderhaegei'' are .

Taxonomy

''Mesoclemmys vanderhaegei'' is closely related to ''M. gibbus'', and may even be a subspecies of that species. It was first described by Bour (1973) as a subspecies of the broad-headed ''M. tuberculatus'', but was raised to full species rank by Bour and

Pauler Pauler is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Ákos Pauler (1876–1933), Hungarian philosopher * Ildefons Pauler (1903–1996), Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights *Tivadar Pauler (1816–1886), Hungarian politician See also * ...

(1987).

Conservation status

IUCN Red List Status (1996) Lower risk: near threatened.

References

External links

*Tortoise & Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group (1996).
''Phrynops vanderhaegei''

2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Downloaded on 29 July 2007. {{Taxonbar, from=Q2701074 Mesoclemmys Turtles of South America Reptiles of Argentina Reptiles of Bolivia Turtles of Brazil Reptiles of Paraguay Reptiles of Uruguay Reptiles described in 1973 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot