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Amyda cartilaginea (BODDAERT, 1770)

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Higher TaxaTrionychidae (Trionychinae), Trionychoidea, Testudines (turtles)
SubspeciesAmyda cartilaginea cartilaginea (BODDAERT 1770)
Amyda cartilaginea maculosa FRITZ, GEMEL, KEHLMAIER, VAMBERGER & PRASCHAG 2014 
Common NamesE: Black-rayed Soft-shelled Turtle, Asiatic Softshell Turtle
G: Knorpelweichschildkröte 
SynonymTestudo cartilaginea BODDAERT 1770
Testudo boddaerti SCHNEIDER 1787 (nomen subst. pro T. cartilaginea BODDAERT)
Testudo bodderti [sic] — SCHNEIDER 1787
Testudo rostrata THUNBERG 1787
Testudo striata SUCKOW 1798 (partim)
Trionyx stellatus GEOFFROY 1809 (nomen subst. pro T. cartilaginea BODDAERT)
Amyda javanicus SCHWEIGGER in GEOFFROY SAINT-HILAIRE 1809 (nom. nud.)
Trionyx javanicus GEOFFROY SAINT-HILAIRE 1809
Aspidonectes javanicus — WAGLER 1830
Testudo gotaghol HAMILTON 1831 (nomen nudum)
Gymnopus Javanicus — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1835: 493
Trionyx cariniferus GRAY 1855
Aspilus (?) punctulatus GRAY 1864
Trionyx jeudi GRAY 1869
Trionyx ephippium THEOBALD 1875
Trionyx cartilagineus — BOULENGER 1889
Trionyx cartilagineus — SMEDLEY 1932
Trionyx nakornsrithammarajensis NUTAPHAND 1979
Trionyx cartilagineus — BONG HEANG 1987
Trionyx cartilagineus — ALDERTON 1988
Amyda cartilaginea — ERNST & BARBOUR 1989
Amyda nakornsrithammarajensis — ERNST & BARBOUR 1989
Trionyx cartilagineus nakorn NUTAPHAND 1990 (nom. nov. pro Trionyx nakornsrithammarajensis)
Amyda cartilaginea — MANTHEY & GROSSMANN 1997: 461
Amyda cartilaginea — COX et al. 1998: 134
Amyda cartilaginea — SANG et al. 2009
Amyda cartilaginea cartilaginea — FRITZ et al. 2014
Amyda cartilaginea — TTWG 2021
Amyda cartilaginea — TTWG 2021
Amyda cf. cartilaginea — FIGUEROA et al. 2023

Amyda cartilaginea maculosa FRITZ, GEMEL, KEHLMAIER, VAMBERGER & PRASCHAG 2014
Amyda cartilaginea maculosa — TTWG 2017
Amyda cartilaginea maculosa — TTWG 2021 
DistributionMalaysia, Indonesia (Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Sulawesi), Singapore, India (Assam)

Introduced to the Lesser Sunda Islands and Sulawesi (Koch et al. 2008; van Dijk et al. 2012), and probably Yunnan, China (Kuchling 1995).

Type locality: Unknown (fide KING & BURKE 1989); designated as "Java" by Baur 1893: 220.

maculosa: Indonesia (Borneo); Type locality: Nanga Badau, Kalimantan, Indonesia (“Nanga Bandang, Borneo  
Reproductionoviparous. 
TypesHolotype: MNHN-RA 4150
Holotype. NMW 30204:3, Natural History Museum Vienna, Franz Steindachner leg. 1874 [maculosa] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (genus Amyda): Posterior nares not reduced in size by the inner extension of the maxillaries. Alveolar surface of lower jaw without a longitudinal symphyseal ridge; seven to eight pairs of pleuralia, all separated by neurals; a single neural between the first pair of pleurals (fide BAUR 1893).


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CommentSynonymy: There has been some confusion between Trionyx and Testudo phayrei in the older literature (see also that entry and references therein). T. phayrei was named after Lieut.-Col. Sir A. P. Phayre, Chief Commissioner of British Birma. Fritz et al. 2014 revalidated Amyda ornata ornata and A. o. phayrei, i.e. Trionyx ornatus GRAY 1861 and Trionyx phayrei THEOBALD 1868 have been removed from the synonymy of A. cartilaginea. TTWG 2017 does not recognize nakorn ans lists it as synonym of Amyda cartilaginea phayrei (Theobald 1868) (76) or Amyda ornata phayrei (Theobald 1868).

Distribution: not in Thailand (incl. Phuket) and other regions of Indochina fide Fritz et al. 2014. If A. ornata is recognized as valid (not as a synonym or subspecies of cartilaginea) then cartilaginea does not occur in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, S Myanmar (= Burma), India (Mizoram, Manipur, Tripura), or Bangladesh. See map in TTWG 2017: 162.

Authorship: WIROT NUTAPHAND’s name is not spelled consistently. There are no “official” rules how to transliterate Thai names to Roman letters but WIROT is his first name, and NUTAPHAND his family name, which is usually cited as NUTAPHAND although the author would write his name also as “NUTPHAND” (based on O.S.G. PAUWELS, pers. comm.).

Nomenclature: See also MCCORD & PRITCHARD (2002) for a discussion of the name T. membranacea.

Type species: Trionyx javanicus GEOFFROY SAINT-HILAIRE 1809 is the type species of the genus Amyda GEOFFROY SAINT-HILAIRE 1809. However, Fitzinger 1843 (Syst. Rept. 30) explicitly designated Trionyx subplanus Geoffroy, 1809, as type species of Amyda. See also Smith 1963 for a history of the name Amyda. He states that Geoffroy accepted the name Trionyx while he listed Amyda only as a synonym.

Habitat: freshwater (rivers and tributaries, lakes) 
References
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