The Brahminy River Turtle or Crowned River Turtle (Hardella thurjii) is a species of turtle found in northern India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh (in the watersheds of the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Indus rivers).

Description

Carapace moderately depressed, with an interrupted tubercular keel; margin not serrated; nuchal narrow, broadest posteriorly; first vertebral usually narrower anteriorly than posteriorly, lateral borders usually slightly sinuous; second, third, and fourth vertebrals considerably broader than long in the young, nearly as long as broad in the adult. Plastron large, angulate laterally, truncate anteriorly, angularly notched posteriorly; the width of the bridge exceeds the length of the posterior lobe; the longest median suture is that between the abdominals; suture between the gulars as long as that between the humerals or a little shorter (at least three fourths); inguinal large, axillary smaller. Head moderate; snout short, obtuse; upper jaw notched mesially, serrated; lower jaw very strongly dentated, flat inferiorly, its width at the symphysis a little less than the diameter of the orbit. Limbs with transversely enlarged, band-like scales. Carapace dark brown or black; plastron yellowish, with a large blackish spot occupying the greater part of each shield, or entirely black. Soft parts dark brown; a yellow band across the prefrontal region, extending on each side, through the eye, to above the ear; another from below each eye, passing below the nostrils. Length of shell 18 inches (females ). Males much smaller.

Notes

References

• Listed as Vulnerable (VU A1cd+2cd v2.3)
• Das, Indraneil 1984 Record length of the Brahminy River turtle Hardella thurjii Hamadryad 9 (3): 18

External links

• http://itgmv1.fzk.de/www/itg/uetz/herp/photos/Hardella_thurjii_thurjii.jpg
• http://itgmv1.fzk.de/www/itg/uetz/herp/photos/Hardella_thurjii.jpg