Roti Island snake-necked turtle

Roti Island snake-necked turtle
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Roti Island Snake-necked Turtle
Conservation status
Critically Endangered (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Sauropsida
Order:	Testudines
Suborder:	Pleurodira
Family:	Chelidae
Subfamily:	Chelodininae
Genus:	Chelodina
Subgenus:	Chelodina
Species:	C. mccordi
Binomial name
Chelodina mccordi Rhodin, 1994
Synonyms
Chelodina mccordi Rhodin, 1994 Chelodina timorensis McCord et al., 2007

File:Roti Island Snaked-Neck Turtle, Rotterdam.jpg

Rote Island Snaked-Neck Turtle at Rotterdam Zoo

The Roti Island snake-necked turtle (Chelodina mccordi) is a critically endangered turtle species from Rote Island in Indonesia.

Chelodina mccordi timorensis, a subspecies of it, living on East Timor, is sometimes considered as its own species, called the Timor snake-neck turtle (Chelodina timorensis). It belongs to the genus Chelodina (Australian snake-necked turtles) within the Chelidae family (side-necked turtles).

Chelodina mccordi roteensis, another subspecies, is confined to two lakes in Landu Leko district in the north of Rote, including Lake Undun.

Description

The Roti Island snake-necked turtle was split from the New Guinea snake-necked turtle and regarded as distinct species in 1994 after Dr. Anders Rhodin, director of the Chelonian Research Foundation in Lunenburg (Massachusetts), found out that there are differences between the two species. The first snake-necked turtles on Rote Island were discovered in 1891 by George Albert Boulenger. They were named for Dr. William McCord, a veterinarian and turtle expert from Hopewell Junction, New York.

The carapace can reach a length of 18–24 centimetres (7.1–9.4 in). The neck is nearly as long. The color of the carapace is a pale grey brown. Occasionally there are also specimens which have a chestnut coloured hue. The plastron is a pale buff white. The neck is dark brown on the upperparts with round tubercles. The underparts are light beige. The iris is black surrounded by a white ring. Its habitat includes swamps, rice terraces and small lakes.

Reproduction

Adults may have up to three breeding periods in a year. A typical clutch consists of eight to fourteen eggs. The size of an egg is 30×20mm and may weigh eight to ten grams. The first hatchlings emerge after incubating for three months, and the last hatchlings leave after four months. Upon emerging, a hatchling's shell is about 28 by 20mm and has yellow spots on the plastron, which become darker in a few weeks until the entire plastron becomes almost black. As the juveniles grow, their coloration progressively becomes paler until they finally achieve the color of the adults.

Threats

The Roti Island Snake-necked Turtle is one of the most desired turtles in the international pet trade. Even before it was scientifically described it was so over-collected that the legal trade was prohibited in 2001 due to its rarity. The two or three remaining populations live in an area of only 70km² in the central highlands of Rote Island. It is still illegally captured and it is often offered on markets under the label of the New Guinea Snake-necked Turtle which is also legally protected. In 2004 it was listed in Appendix II of CITES.

Outside of capture by humans there are few natural threats to this species. There are some reports of predation by feral pigs (Sus Scrofa) and loss of habitat, but illegal capture and trade remain the primary threat.

External links

• Asian Turtle Trade Working Group 2000. Chelodina mccordi. In: IUCN 2006. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 27 July 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is critically endangered
• Chelodina mccordi
• Inclusion of Roti Snake-necked Turtle Chelodina mccordi in Appendix II. Proponents: Indonesia and United States of America.
• TRAFFIC - Roti Island Snake-necked Turtles become all but extinct
• TRAFFIC - The Trade of the Roti Island Snake-necked Turtle Chelodina mccordi