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Chitra indica (GRAY, 1831)

IUCN Red List - Chitra indica - Endangered, EN
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Higher TaxaTrionychidae (Trionychinae), Trionychoidea, Testudines (turtles)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Narrow-headed soft-shelled Turtle
G: Vorderindische Kurzkopf-Weichschildkröte 
SynonymTrionyx indicus GRAY 1831: 18
Testudo membranacea BLUMENBACH 1779 (nom. dub.)
Trionyx Aegyptiacus var. Indicus — GRAY 1831: 47 (part.)
Gymnopus lineatus DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1835: 491 (nom. subst. pro Tr. indicus GRAY)
Chitra indica — GRAY 1844: 49 (partim)
Gymnopus indicus — CANTOR 1847: 10 (part.)
Pelochelys cantorii GRAY 1864: 90 (part.)
Pelochelys cumingii GRAY 1864: 90 (part.)
Trionyx lineatus — MARTENS 1876: 196
Chitra indica — MURRAY 1886: 11
Chitra Indica var. [sic] Cumingi — BOETTGER 1886: 93
Chitra indica — BOULENGER 1889
Pelochelys cantoris [sic] — BOULENGER 1889: 263 (part.)
Pelochelys bibronii — BOULENGER 1889: 263 (part.)
Pelochelys bibroni — SMITH 1931: 160
Pelochelys poljakowii — SMITH 1931: 160
Trionyx indica — TAYLOR 1970: 152
Chitra indica — MANTHEY & GROSSMANN 1997: 463
Chitra indica — MCCORD & JOSEPH-OUNI 2003
Chitra indica — TTWG 2014
Chitra indica — TTWG 2021 
DistributionIndia (Ganges, Godavari , Mahanadi, Sutlaj, Indus, Kerala, Assam, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab) Pakistan, Nepal,
Bangladesh.

Type locality: "India, fl. Ganges, Penang"; restricted by Smith (1931:162) to "Fatehgarh, Ganges," India = “India: Ganges; Futtaghur” (GRAY 1864: 92)  
Reproductionoviparous. 
TypesHolotype: iconotype, specimen illustrated on Plate 80 in GRAY’s “Ill. Ind. Zool. (1831) 
DiagnosisDIAGNOSIS (DIAGNOSTIC CHARACTERS): (1) overall color: olive to deep olive-green; (2) very complex midline (vertebral) carapacial pattern; (3) midline (vertebral) carapacial stripe present; (4) complex radiating costal stripes; (5) paramedian neck stripes forming a bell-like pattern on anterior carapace absent; (6) neck stripes do not form a continuous light rim around carapace; (7) no distinct pair of neck stripes; (8) dark speckling on “light” (head and neck) stripes; (9) anterior neck “V” divergence point on neck; (10) 3-4 forelimb lamellae; (11) no peri-orbital X pattern; (12) no distinct peri-orbital ocelli; (13) no distinct naso-orbital triangular “figure”; (14) few, if any, black dots present on chin pattern. [MCCORD & PRITCHARD 2002] 
CommentCOX et al. 1998 consider Chitra chitra as a valid species although it might be treated as subspecies of Chitra indica. ENGSTROM et al. (2002) suggest that the single species currently recognized in this genus (Chitra indica) actually represents three species. Synonymy mostly after MCCORD & PRITCHARD 2002.

Length: up to 115 cm (carapace)

Type species: Trionyx indicus GRAY 1831: 18 is the type species of the genus Chitra GRAY 1844: 49.

Habitat: freshwater (rivers and tributaries) 
EtymologyNamed after the type locality. 
References
  • Adil, Saba; Shermeen Ijaz, Hira Aslam, Rimsha Kanwal and Sehrish Afsheen 2020. Diversity of amphibians and reptiles in Daphar Forest Sanctuary, district Mandi Bahauddin, Pakistan. Journal of Wildlife and Ecology 4(1):15-26
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  • GEMEL, R. & HARING, E. 2011. On two shells of trionychid turtles in the collection of the “Zoologische Staatssammlung München” with remarks about morphological differences between Chitra GRAY, 1844 and Pelochelys GRAY, 1864. Herpetozoa 23 (3/4): 67-77 - get paper here
  • Gray, J. E. 1831. Synopsis Reptilium or short descriptions of the species of reptiles. Part I: Cataphracta, tortoises, crocodiles, and enaliosaurians. Treuttel, Wurz & Co., London, 85 pp. - get paper here
  • Gray, J. E. 1831. A synopsis of the species of Class Reptilia. In: Griffith, E & E. Pidgeon: The animal kingdom arranged in conformity with its organisation by the Baron Cuvier with additional descriptions of all the species hither named, and of many before noticed [V Whittaker, Treacher and Co., London: 481 + 110 pp. [1830] - get paper here
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