Mesoclemmys raniceps

Mesoclemmys raniceps is a side-necked turtle found in the Amazon basin and Orinoco basin. Little is known about the turtle's life cycle, but there is evidence that the females can lay a clutch of 4-8 eggs several times in the year. Males are usually smaller than females in length. Males can be distinguished from females by the prominent white scales they have on the external border of their skin which cover the tibia. Mesoclemmys raniceps can be identified by the black stripe on each side of their head which extends from the snout through the eyes and ends at the exterior end, the tympani.[4]

Mesoclemmys raniceps
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Testudines
Suborder: Pleurodira
Family: Chelidae
Genus: Mesoclemmys
Species:
M. raniceps
Binomial name
Mesoclemmys raniceps
(Gray, 1856)[1]
Synonyms[2][3]
List
  • Hydraspis raniceps Gray, 1856
  • Platemys raniceps Strauch, 1862
  • Phrynops walbaumi Fitzinger, 1904 (nomen nudum)
  • Phrynops wermuthi Mertens, 1969
  • Phrynops tuberculatus wermuthi Bour, 1973
  • Phrynops nasuta wermuthi Pritchard, 1979
  • Phrynops raniceps Bour & Pauler, 1987
  • Batrachemys raniceps Cabrera, 1998
  • Batrachemys raniceps raniceps Joseph-Ouni, 2004
  • Batrachemys raniceps wermuthi Joseph-Ouni, 2004
  • Mesoclemmys raniceps Bour & Zaher, 2005

References
  1. Gray, John Edward. 1856 [“1855”]. Catalogue of Shield Reptiles in the Collection of the British Museum. Part I. Testudinata (Tortoises). London: British Museum, 79 pp. [Published Mar 1856].
  2. Uwe Fritz & Peter Havaš (2007). "Checklist of Chelonians of the World" (PDF). Vertebrate Zoology. 57 (2): 263–264. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 17, 2010.
  3. Peter Paul van Dijk, John B. Iverson, H. Bradley Shaffer, Roger Bour, and Anders G.J. Rhodin. 2012. Turtles of the World, 2012 Update: Annotated Checklist of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution, and Conservation Status. Chelonian Research Monographs No. 5, pp. 000.243–000.328.
  4. http://www.herpetologynotes.seh-herpetology.org/Volume3_PDFs/Ferronato_et_al_Herpetology_Notes_Volume3_pages211-214.pdf

5. Vogt, R. C., Franco, J. A. G., Fernandes, T. undefined, & Cunha, F. undefined. (2019, March 29). Reproductive Biology and Hatchling Morphology of the Amazon Toad-headed Turtle (Mesoclemmys raniceps) (Testudines: Chelidae), with Notes on Species Morphology and Taxonomy of the Mesoclemmys Group. Vol. 18 issue 2. 195-209.


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