Black pond turtle

For the Southeast Asian turtle also known as the "black pond turtle", see Black marsh turtle.

Black pond turtle
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN 2.3)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Subphylum:	Vertebrata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Testudines
Family:	Geoemydidae
Genus:	Geoclemys
Species:	G. hamiltonii
Binomial name
Geoclemys hamiltonii (Gray, 1831)
Synonyms
Emys hamiltonii Gray, 1831 Emys guttata Gray, 1831 Emys picquotii Lesson, 1831 Clemmys (Clemmys) hamiltonii — Fitzinger, 1835 Geoclemys hamiltonii — Gray, 1856 Damonia hamiltonii — Gray, 1869 Melanochelys pictus Murray, 1884 Clemmys palaeindica Lydekker, 1885 Damonia hamiltoni — Lydekker, 1889 (ex errore) Geoclemmys hamiltonii — Boulenger, 1889 Emys hamiltoni — M.A. Smith, 1931 Geoclemys hamiltoni — M.A. Smith, 1931

The black pond turtle (Geoclemys hamiltonii ), also known as the spotted pond turtle or the Indian spotted turtle, is a species of turtle endemic to South Asia. It belongs to the monotypic genus Geoclemys.

Etymology

The specific name, hamiltonii, is in honor of Scottish botanist and ichthyologist Francis Hamilton.

Description

G. hamiltonii is mainly black with small yellowish spots, and a much-elevated carapace, with three interrupted keels or series of nodose prominences corresponding to the vertebral and costal shields. The posterior border of the carapace is strongly serrated in young, but feebly in the adult. The nuchal is moderate, broader posteriorly than anteriorly. The first vertebral is not or scarcely broader anteriorly than posteriorly. The second and third vertebrals are broader than long in the young, nearly as long as broad in the adult, narrower than the costals. The plastron is large, angulate laterally, truncate anteriorly. The posterior lobe of the plastron is much narrower than the opening of the shell, nearly as long as the width of the bridge, deeply notched posteriorly. The head is rather large. The snout is very short, not projecting. The upper jaw is emarginated mesially. The width of the mandible at the symphysis nearly equals the horizontal diameter of the orbit. A large shield covers the upper surface of the snout and the crown, sometimes divided into three, one shield around the upper jaw and one on each side between the eye and the ear. The digits are webbed to the claws. The tail is extremely short. The shell is dark brown or blackish, elegantly marked with yellow spots and radiating streaks, and the soft parts are dark brown or blackish, with round yellow spots, largest on the head and neck.

Geographic range

G. hamiltonii is found in southern Pakistan (Indus and Ganges River drainages), northeastern India (Assam), and Bangladesh.

Further reading

• Das, I. 2002. A Photographic Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of India. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 144 pp. ISBN 0-88359-056-5. (Geoclemys hamiltonii, p. 125).
• Gray, J.E. 1831. Synopsis Reptilium or Short Descriptions of the Species of Reptiles. Part I: Cataphracta, Tortoises, Crocodiles, and Enaliosaurians. London: Treuttel, Wurz & Co. 85 pp. (Emys hamiltonii, new species, pp. 21, 72).
• Khan, Moh. A.R. 1982. Chelonians of Bangladesh and their conservation. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 79 (1): 110-116.
• Murray, J.A. 1884. Additions to the reptilian fauna of Sind. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Fifth Series 14: 106-111.
• Philippen, H.-D. 2004. "Geoclemys hamiltonii (Gray 1831) - Strahlen-Dreikielschildkröte ". Reptilia (Münster) 9 (5): 51-54.

External links

• Geoclemys hamiltonii at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database