Emydura australis (GRAY, 1841)
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Emydura australis
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| Higher Taxa | Chelidae, Chelodininae, Pleurodira, Testudines (turtles) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Australian Big-headed Side-necked Turtle E: Northern Red-faced Turtle, Victoria Short-necked Turtle [victoriae] |
| Synonym | Hydraspis australis GRAY in GREY 1841 Hydraspis victoriae GRAY 1842: 55 Chelymys australis — GRAY 1871: 366 Chelymys victoriae — BAUR 1888: 419 Chelymys victoriae — BAUR 1889 Emydura australis — BOULENGER 1889: 232 Emydura australis — WERMUTH & MERTENS 1961: 319 Emydura victoriae — WORRELL 1963 Emydura australis — GOODE 1967: 79, 136 Emydura australis — MERTENS 1969 Emydura australis — WERMUTH & MERTENS 1977: 127 Tropicochelymys victoriae — WELLS & WELLINGTON 1985: 9 Emydura victoriae — KING & BURKE 1989 Emydura australis — ERNST & BARBOUR 1989 Emydura victoriae — GEORGES 1996 Emydura victoriae — COGGER 2000: 199 Emydura australis — COGGER 2000: 740 Emydura australis — BONIN et al 2006 Emydura victoriae — GEORGES & THOMSON 2010 Emydura victoriae — KEHLMAIER et al. 2019 Emydura australis — KEHLMAIER et al. 2019 Emydura victoriae — TTWG 2021 |
| Distribution | Australia (Western Australia: drainages of the Kimberley region, Northern Territory) Type locality: "West Australia” (probably N Western Australia, but specific location unknown) victoriae: Australia (Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia); Type locality: "Victoria River, North-west coast of New Holland" (Northern Territory, Australia) |
| Reproduction | oviparous. |
| Types | Holotype: BMNH 1947.3.4.36 Holotype: BMNH 1947.3.5.96, Victoria River, NT, collected Capt. W. Campbell (in error for Capt. W. Chambers). See Cann & Sadlier (2017) for discussion on the extent of the type series and the identity of the holotype. The lectotype designation of BNMH 1947.3.5.95 by Wells & Wellington (1985) is invalid, as this specimen was received by the British Museum after the description of the species. See also Kehlmaier et al. 2019 for further details. [victoriae] |
| Diagnosis | Additional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (3195 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. |
| Comment | Synonymy: COGGER (1983) synonymized E. australis with E. macquarri. E. australis is mentioned by BURKE & KING 1989 and considered as synonymous to Emydura macquarrii by MCCORD et al. (2003). Kehlmaier et al. 2019 state that “the differentiation of the mitogenome of the holotype of H. australis suggests that it is distinct from E. macquarii and may thus represent a valid species” and later (p. 9) consider it “to represent a valid species”. Emydura worrelli is considered by some authors as a synonym of E. victoriae, but treated here as a subspecies of E. subglobosa. Kehlmaier et al. 2024 synonymized E. victoriae with E. australis. Diet: The species eats a variety of plant and animal food. Plant food includes figs (Legler, 1976). Animal food includes molluscs (Legler, 1976). Karyotype: The karyotype of this species consists of 50 chromosomes grading from large to small with all the large chromosomes being bi-armed (Bull and Legler, 1980). Habitat: freshwater (rivers, swamps) Distribution: Map in MACCORD et al. (2003) [victoriae] NCBI taxonID: 578127 [victoriae] |
| Etymology | Presumably named after the Latin australis (southern), although in this case Gray is likely alluding to the southern continent Australia rather than a southern distribution within that continent. (G. Shea, pers. comm., 9 Feb 2024) E. victoriae was named after the type locality. |
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