EMYSystem Text Only Species Page: Acanthochelys spixii
home . introduction . world turtle database . conservation resources . contact us
order..........TESTUDINES (turtles, tortoises and terrapins)
family...........Chelidae (Austro-American Side-necked Turtles)
subfamily.......Austrochelidinae ()
genus...............Acanthochelys (South American Side-necked Swamp Turtles)
species..............Acanthochelys spixii (Spiny-neck Turtle)
Note - informational or help links appear in red.
- Original Description
- Duméril and Bibron 1835 : 409
- Holotype
- Originally MNHN 8751; but ZSM 3003/0 designated lectotype by Hoogmoed and Gruber 1983:345; see Comment.
- Type Locality
- "Brésil"; restricted to "Rio São Francisco, near Rio dos Pandeiros, Minas Gerais, Brazil" by Rhodin, da Rocha e Silva, and Mittermeier (1984b:783)
- Original name
- Platemys spixii
- Common Name
- Spiny-neck Turtle
- Distribution
- Upper Rio São Francisco and coastal basins in São Paulo state southward to Rio Paraná basin in Argentina, Uruguay, and southern Brazil; probably also occurs in Paraguay; introduced near Mendoza, Argentina
- Comments
- This taxon was originally described as Emys depressa by Spix (1824:5), but that name had already been used by Merrem (1820:22) to describe material now referable to Phrynops geoffroanus. Duméril and Bibron (1835:409) provided the first unique name for this taxon (Platemys Spixii) based on MNHN 8751. However, because the latter is only a replacement name for Emys depressa Spix, the type material of the latter become the types of Platemys Spixii (e.g., see Rhodin, da Rocha e Silva, and Mittermeier, 1984). Hoogmoed and Gruber (1983:345) examined the only remaining syntype of E. depressa Spix (ZSM 3003/0) and designated it as the lectotype of that taxon, and by convention, of P. spixii as well. Reviewed by Groombridge (1982; as Platemys spixii), Ernst (1983b; as Platemys spixii; although his distribution map is in error), Rhodin, Mittermeier, and McMorris (1984; as Platemys spixii), Rhodin, da Rocha e Silva, and Mittermeier (1984; as Platemys spixii), Waller (1988), and Buskirk (1991).
Additional Resources . . images . . maps . . resources . . . help
Copyright © 2000 The Terra Cognita Laboratory