Platysternon peguense GRAY, 1870

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Higher Taxa	Platysternidae, Testudinoidea, Testudines (turtles)
Subspecies
Common Names	E: Burmese Big-headed Turtle Chinese: 缅甸平胸龟 (Miăn Diàn Píng Xiōng Guī)
Synonym	Platysternon peguense GRAY 1870: 70 Platysternon megacephalum peguense — WERMUTH 1960 Platysternon megacephalum vogeli WERMUTH 1969 (fide ERNST & BARBOUR) Platysternon megacephalum peguense — ERNST & BARBOUR 1989: 135 Platysternon megacephalum peguense — CHAN-ARD et al. 1999: 228 Platysternon megacephalum peguense — RHODIN et al. 2010 Platysternon megacephalum peguense — TTWG 2021 Platysternon peguense — WANG et al. 2024 Platysternon peguense — LIANG et al. 2025: 1054
Distribution	Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Vietnam Type locality: Pegu [Bago, Myanmar]
Reproduction
Types	Holotype: BMNH 1946.1.22.21-22 (Type of P. peguense (68.4.3.141, 68.6.6.2-3)
Diagnosis	Diagnosis:Shell extremely flattened. Tail very long; tip reaching or extending beyond gular scute when bent forward along plastron. Carapace brownish with irregular black spots. Plastron with “丰”-shaped dark central mark. Head, neck, and limbs with orange-red spots and stripes. (Liang et al. 2025) Unfortunately we had to temporarily remove additional information as this was scraped by multiple AI companies who sell that data to their customers. These details, e.g. detailed descriptions or comparisons (about 467 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details.
Comment	Synonymy: Boulenger 1889 listed P. peguense as synonym of P. megacephalum. Habitat: freshwater (small rivers) Subspecies: only two of the three currently recognized subspecies have strong molecular support (Ngo et al. 2023). Conservation: The vast majority of P. megacephalum confiscated from the trade in Vietnam belong to Subclade 3 of P. m. peguense, and this subclade is the most broadly distributed taxon of the big-headed turtle in Vietnam (Ngo et al. 2023). Distribution: see map in TTWG 2025 and Liang et al. 2025: 1050 (Fig. 1).
References	Chan-ard,T.; Grossmann,W.; Gumprecht,A. & Schulz,K. D. 1999. Amphibians and reptiles of peninsular Malaysia and Thailand - an illustrated checklist [bilingual English and German]. Bushmaster Publications, Würselen, Gemany, 240 pp. [book review in Russ. J Herp. 7: 87] - get paper here Ernst,C.H. and Barbour,R.W. 1989. Turtles of the World. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C. - London Gray, J.E. 1870. Appendix to the Catalogue of Shield Reptiles in the Collection of the British Museum. Part 1. Testudinata (Tortoises). Taylor and Francis, London. 120 p., 40 figs. - get paper here Qian-Ru Liang, Jia-Xuan Li, Yan Ge, Jun-Man Ou, You-Qiang Yin, Chatmongkon Suwannapoom, Minh Le, Truong Quang Nguyen, Uwe Fritz, Shi-Ping Gong. 2025. Taxonomic revision of the critically endangered big-headed turtles (Reptilia: Testudines: Platysternidae Gray, 1869), with description of a new species. Zoological Research, 46(5): 1047-1058 - get paper here TTWG; Rhodin, A.G.J., Iverson, J.B., Bour, R., Fritz, U., Georges, A., Shaffer, H.B., and van Dijk, P.P. 2021. Turtles of the World: Annotated Checklist and Atlas of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution, and Conservation Status (9th Ed.). In: Rhodin, A.G.J., Iverson, J.B., van Dijk, P.P., Stanford, C.B., Goode, E.V., Buhlmann, K.A., and Mittermeier, R.A. (Eds.). Conservation Biology of Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises: A Compilation Project of the IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group. Chelonian Research Monographs 8:1–472. doi:10.3854/crm.8.checklist.atlas.v9.2021. - get paper here Wermuth, H. 1969. Eine neue Grosskopfschildkrote, Platysternon megacephalum vogeli, n. ssp. DATZ 22 (12): 372-374
External links	IUCN Red List National Center for Biotechnology Information Google images

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