EMYSystem Text Only Species Page: Melanochelys trijuga
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order..........TESTUDINES (turtles, tortoises and terrapins)
family...........Geoemydidae ()
subfamily.......no_subfamily
genus...............Melanochelys (Indian Black Turtles)
species..............Melanochelys trijuga (Indian Black Turtle)
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- Original Description
- Schweigger 1812 : 310
- Holotype
- Possibly in MNHN
- Type Locality
- "insula Java" [Indonesia] (in error)
- Original name
- Emys trijuga
- Common Name
- Indian Black Turtle
- Distribution
- India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Burma; found in the Maldive Islands and on Diego Garcia in the Chagos Islands, although possibly introduced according to Boulenger (1889) and Deraniyagala (1939)
- Comments
- Testudo scabra Linnaeus (1758:198; holotype: ZMUU 129) may be an older name for this species (Boulenger, 1889:121), but its identification has not been confirmed (see Lönnberg 1896; Pritchard and Trebbau 1984:182). Reviewed by Smith (1931; as Geoemyda trijuga), Bourret (1941; as Geoemyda trijuga), Tikader and Sharma (1985), and Das (1991).
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