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Elseya lavarackorum (WHITE & ARCHER, 1994)

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Higher TaxaChelidae, Chelodininae, Pleurodira, Testudines (turtles)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Gulf Snapping Turtle, Lavarack's Turtle 
SynonymEmydura lavarackorum WHITE & ARCHER 1994
Elseya lavarackorum — THOMSON, WHITE & GEORGES 1997
Elseya lavarackorum — COGGER 2000: 739
Elseya dentata lavarackorum — ARTNER 2008
Elseya lavarackorum — GEORGES & THOMSON 2010
Elseya (Pelocomastes) lavarackorum — THOMSON et al. 2015
Elseya (Pelocomastes) lavarackorum — TTWG 2017: 195
Elseya oneiros JOSEPH-OUNI et al. 2020
Elseya lavarackorum — TTWG 2021
Elseya lavarackorum — JOSEPH-OUNI et al. 2022
Elseya oneiros — JOSEPH-OUNI et al. 2022
Elseya lavarackorum — TTWG 2025 
DistributionAustralia (Queensland: Nicholson Drainage)

Type locality: Terrace Site, an excavation in fluviatile sediments exposed on the south bank of the Gregory River, Riversleigh Station, northwestern of Mount Isa (Pleistocene), Queensland, Australia (18º35'S 138º35'E).  
Reproductionoviparous. 
TypesHolotype: QM F24121 
DiagnosisUnfortunately 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 4753 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentConservation: this species is extinct and only known from fossils. However, Thomson et al. 1997 concluded that the species is actually extant with populations in the Nicholson River. Joseph-Ouni et al. (2020) described this population as Elseya (Pelocomastes) oneiros which was considered as a synonym of lavarackorum by TTWG 2021. Joseph-Ouni et al. (2022) provided further evidence that oneiros is a valid, extant species.

Type species: Pelocomastes ampla De Vis 1897 [fossil, = subjective synonym of Chelymys uberrima De Vis 1897 (fossil), is the type species of the subgenus Pelocomastes DE VIS 1897.

Distribution: see map in JOSEPH-OUNI et al. 2022: 110 (Fig. 3). 
EtymologyNamed after Tim and Sue Lavarack, Australian paleontologists who discovered the fossil of the turtle. It has subsequently been found to be still extant. 
References
  • Artner, H. 2008. The world's extant turtle species, Part 1. Emys 15 (3): 4-32
  • Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA - get paper here
  • Bour, R. 2008. Global diversity of turtles (Chelonii; Reptilia) in freshwater. Hydrobiologia 595:593–598 - get paper here
  • Cogger, H. G. 2014. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, 7th ed. CSIRO Publishing, xxx + 1033 pp. - get paper here
  • Cogger, H.G. 2000. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, 6th ed. Ralph Curtis Publishing, Sanibel Island, 808 pp.
  • Jolly, C., Schembri, B., & Macdonald, S. 2023. Field Guide to the Reptiles of the Northern Territory. CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne - get paper here
  • Joseph-Ouni, M., McCord, W.P., Cann, J., Smales, I., Freeman, A., Sadlier, R., Couper, P., White, A. & Amey, A. 2020. The relics of Riversleigh: Re-examination of the fossil record of Elseya (Testudines: Chelidae) with description of a new species from the Gulf of Carpentaria drainages, Queensland, Australia. The Batagur Monographs 3: 5–70 - get paper here
  • Joseph-Ouni, M., White, A., Smales, I., Sadlier, R., Cann, J., McCord, W.P., Couper, P., Amey, A. & Freeman, A. 2022. Further evidence in support of the recognition of the Freshwater Turtle Elseya oneiros (Testudines: Chelidae) from the Nicholson and Gregory Rivers of Northern Queensland. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum - Nature. 63: 93–112
  • Joseph-Ouni, Mehdi, William P. McCord & Cann, John 2022. A NEW SPECIES OF ELSEYA (TESTUDINES: CHELIDAE) FROM THE RIVERS OF THE KIMBERLEY,WESTERN AUSTRALIA. The Batagur Monographs 5: 35-54
  • Thomson, S.; Amepou, Y., Anamiato, J. & Georges, A. 2015. A new species and subgenus of Elseya (Testudines: Pleurodira: Chelidae) from New Guinea. Zootaxa 4006 (1): 059–082 - get paper here
  • THOMSON, SCOTT A., NATÁLIA R. FRIOL, ARTHUR WHITE, DION WEDD & ARTHUR GEORGES. 2023. The Australian gulf snapping turtle Elseya lavarackorum (Testudines: Chelidae) revisited—Is the late Pleistocene fossil species extant? Vertebrate Zoology 73: 237–256. - get paper here
  • Thomson, Scott, Arthur Georges and Colin J. Limpus 2006. A new species of freshwater turtle in the genus Elseya (Testudines: Chelidae) from Central Coastal Queensland, Australia. Chelonian Conserv. Biol. 5 (1): 74-86. - get paper here
  • Thomson,S., White,A. & Georges,A. 1997. Re-evaluation of Emydura lavarackorum: identification of a living fossil. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 42 (1): 327-336 - get paper here
  • TTWG [TURTLE TAXONOMY WORKING GROUP: RHODIN, A.G.J., IVERSON, J.B., FRITZ, U., GALLEGO-GARCÍA, N., GEORGES, A., SHAFFER, H.B., AND VAN DuK, P.P.]. 2025. Turtles of the World: Annotated Checklist and Atlas of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution, and Conservation Status (10th 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 10:1-575 - get paper here
  • TTWG; Anders G.J. Rhodin, John B. iverson, Roger Bour, Uwe Fritz, Arthur GeoRges, H. BRadley Shaffer, and Peter Paul van Dijk 2017. Turtles of the World: Annotated Checklist and Atlas of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution, and Conservation Status (8th Ed.). In: Rhodin, A.G.J., Iverson, J.B., van Dijk, P.P., Saumure, R.A., Buhlmann, K.A., Pritchard, P.C.H., 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 7:1–292. doi: 10.3854/crm.7.checklist.atlas.v8.2017 - 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
  • Vis, C.W. de 1897. The extinct freshwater turtles of Queensland. Annals of the Queensland Museum 3:1–7
  • White A W; Archer M 1994. Emydura lavarackorum, a new Pleistocene turtle (Pleurodira: Chelidae) from fluviatile deposits at Riversleigh, northwestern Queensland. Rec. South Austral. Mus. 27 (2): 159-167 - get paper here
  • Wilson, S. & Swan, G. 2010. A complete guide to reptiles of Australia, 3rd ed. Chatswood: New Holland, 558 pp.
 
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