Phrynops hilarii

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Phrynops hilarii
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Testudines
Suborder: Pleurodira
Family: Chelidae
Genus: Phrynops
Species:
P. hilarii
Binomial name
Phrynops hilarii
Synonyms[2][3]
List
  • Platemys hilarii
    A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1835
  • Hydraspis hilairii [sic]
    Gray, 1844 (ex errore)
  • Hydraspis hilarii
    — Gray, 1856
  • Spatulemys lasalae
    Gray, 1872
  • Hydraspis hilari [sic]
    Koslowsky, 1898 (ex errore)
  • Hydraspis geoffroyanus hilarii
    Siebenrock, 1905
  • Phrynops hilarii
    Stejneger, 1909
  • Phrynops geoffroana hilarii
    L. Müller, 1939
  • Phrynops geoffroanus hilarii
    Wermuth & Mertens, 1961
  • Hydraspis hilairi [sic]
    Pritchard, 1967 (ex errore)
  • Phrynops hilari
    — Goode, 1967

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[edit]

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

Geographic range[edit]

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[edit]

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

Description[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

  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[edit]

  • 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).