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Orlitia borneensis GRAY, 1873

IUCN Red List - Orlitia borneensis - Critically Endangered, CR
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Higher TaxaGeoemydidae (Geoemydinae), Testudinoidea, Testudines (turtles)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Malayan Giant Turtle, Century Turtle
G: Borneo Flussschildkröte 
SynonymOrlitia borneensis GRAY 1873: 157
Clemmys (Heteroclemmys) gibbera PETERS 1874
Bellia borneensis — BOULENGER 1889
Bellia borneensis — WERNER 1900: 481
Hardella baileyi BARTLETT 1895
Adelochelys crassa BAUR 1896
Brookeia baileyi BARTLETT 1896 (fide SIEBENROCK 1904)
Liemys inornata BOULENGER 1897: 469
Brookeia baileyi — SHELFORD 1901: 47
Orlitia borneensis — DE ROOIJ 1915: 292
Orlitia borneensis — KING & BURKE 1989
Orlitia borneensis — ERNST & BARBOUR 1989: 177
Orlitia borneensis — MANTHEY & GROSSMANN 1997: 452
Orlitia borneensis — COX et al. 1998: 130
Ortilia borneensis — ARIFIN et al. 2011 (in error)
Orlitia borneensis — TTWG 2014
Orlitia borneensis — TTWG 2021
Orlitia borneensis — TTWG 2025 
DistributionMalaysia (S Malay peninsula), Indonesia (Sumatra, Borneo)

Type locality: “Borneo”
Type locality: Pulo Matjan [Kalimantan] (Borneo) [Clemmys gibbera PETERS]  
Reproductionoviparous. 
TypesHolotype: BMNH 1947.3.4.9.
Holotype: ZMB 5022 [Clemmys (Heteroclemmys) gibbera PETERS 1874] 
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 2473 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentType species: Orlitia borneensis GRAY 1873: 157 is the type species of the genus Orlitia GRAY 1873: 156.

Habitat: freshwater (Rivers, lakes)

Karyotype: diploid chromosome total: 50 (Bickham 1981, Carr & Bickham 1986).

Distribution: see map in TTWG 2025. 
EtymologyNamed after its distribution on Borneo (Indonesia). 
References
  • ARIFIN, UMILAELA; DJOKO T. ISKANDAR and ROSITA ELIANUR 2011. Herpetofauna Diversity Of Karimata Island-Indonesia. Proceedings of the Conference “Biology of the Amphibians in the Sunda Region, South-east Asia”. Organized by Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, 28–30 September 2009. pp:1–7. Edited by Indraneil Das et al.. Institute of Biodiversity and Environmental Conse - get paper here
  • Auliya, M. 2006. Taxonomy, Life History, and conservation of giant reptiles in west Kalimantan. Natur und Tier Verlag, Münster, 432 pp. - get paper here
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1897. Description of a new genus and species of Tortoises from Borneo. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (6) 19: 468-469 - get paper here
  • Bour, R. 2008. Global diversity of turtles (Chelonii; Reptilia) in freshwater. Hydrobiologia 595:593–598 - get paper here
  • 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
  • Cox, Merel J.; Van Dijk, Peter Paul; Jarujin Nabhitabhata & Thirakhupt,Kumthorn 1998. A Photographic Guide to Snakes and Other Reptiles of Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. Ralph Curtis Publishing, 144 pp.
  • Ernst,C.H. and Barbour,R.W. 1989. Turtles of the World. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C. - London
  • Gray,J.E. 1873. On a new freshwater tortoise from Borneo (Orlitia borneensis). Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (4) 11: 156-157 - get paper here
  • Husson, S.J.; S.H. Limin, Adul, N.S. Boyd, J.J. Brousseau, S. Collier, S.M. Cheyne, L.J. D’Arcy, R.A. Dow, N.W. Dowds, M.L. Dragiewicz, D.A. Ehlers Smith, Iwan, Hendri, P.R. Houlihan, K.A. Jeffers, B.J.M. Jarrett, I.P. Kulu, H.C. Morrogh-Bernard, S.E 2018. Biodiversity of the Sebangau tropical peat swamp forest, Indonesian Borneo. Mires and Peat 22 (05): 1–50 - get paper here
  • Jamniczky, H. A. and A. P. Russell 2004. A geometric morphometric assessment of the 'batagurine process' of testudinoid turtles. Amphibia-Reptilia 25 (4): 369-379 - get paper here
  • Kusrini, M. D., Tohir, R. K., Hasibuan, M. M., Aprilianti, R., Sunarto, S., Mardiastuti, A., ... & Chao, N. 2025. Research trends and outlook for Indonesia’s most threatened land vertebrates. Oryx, 1-11 - get paper here
  • Lee, J. C.I.; Tsai, L.C.; Liao, S.P.; Linacre, A. & Hsieh, H.M. 2009. Species identification using the cytochrome b gene of commercial turtle shells. Forensic Science International: Genetics 3: 67–73 - get paper here
  • Ludwig, Maxim; Auer, Markus; Fritz, Uwe 2007. Phalangeal formulae of geoemydid terrapins (Batagur, Callagur, Hardella, Heosemys, Kachuga, Orlitia, Pangshura, Rhinoclemmys) reflect distinct modes of life. Amphibia-Reptilia 28 (4): 574-576 - get paper here
  • Manthey, U. & Grossmann, W. 1997. Amphibien & Reptilien Südostasiens. Natur und Tier Verlag (Münster), 512 pp. (ISBN 3-931587-12-6) - get paper here
  • McCord, W.P. & Joseph-Ouni, M. 2003. Chelonian Illustrations #10. Monotypic genera of the family Geoemydidae. Reptilia (GB) (30): 34-38 - get paper here
  • Mo, Matthew 2020. Only in captivity? An interaction between two threatened chelonians, an Asian Giant Tortoise (Manouria emys) and a Malaysian Giant Turtle (Orlitia borneensis). IRCF Reptiles & Amphibians 27 (1): 89–90 - get paper here
  • Mohd Salleh, M.H.; Esa, Y.; Salleh, S.M.; Mohd Sah, S.A. 2022. Turtles in Malaysia: A Review of Conservation Status and a Call for Research. Animals 12, 2184 - get paper here
  • Peters, Wilhem Carl Hartwig 1874. Über neue Amphibien (Gymnopis, Siphonops, Polypedates, Rhacophorus, Hyla, Cyclodus, Euprepes, Clemmys). Monatsber. königl. Akad. Wiss. Berlin. 1874 (October): 616-624 - get paper here
  • Schilde, M. 2004. Asiatische Sumpfschildkröten - Die Familie Geoemydidae in Südostasien, China und Japan. Natur und Tier Verlag (Münster), 192 pp. - get paper here
  • Setiyabudi, Erick; Akio Takahashi, and Yosuke Kaifu 2016. First Certain Fossil Record of Orlitia borneensis (Testudines: Geoemydidae) from the Pleistocene of Central Java, Indonesia. Current Herpetology Aug 2016, Vol. 35, No. 2: 75-82. - get paper here
  • Shelford, R. 1901. A list of the reptiles of Borneo. Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (35-36): 43- - get paper here
  • Siebenrock, F. 1902. Brookeia Baileyi E. Bartlett und Adelochelys crassa Baur. Zool. Anz. 25: 671-673 - get paper here
  • Siebenrock, F. 1904. Zur Systematik der Schilkröten-Gattung Orlitia Gray. Zool. Anz. 27: 580-582 - get paper here
  • TEYNIÉ, ALEXANDRE; PATRICK DAVID, & ANNEMARIE OHLER 2010. Note on a collection of Amphibians and Reptiles from Western Sumatra (Indonesia), with the description of a new species of the genus Bufo. Zootaxa 2416: 1–43 - get paper here
  • TTWG [Peter Paul van Dijk, John B. Iverson, Anders G.J. Rhodin, H. Bradley Shaffer, and Roger Bour] 2014. Turtles of the World, 7th Edition: Annotated Checklist of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution with Maps, and Conservation Status. 000.v7. Chelonian Research Monographs (ISSN 1088-7105) No. 5, doi:10.3854/crm.5.000.checklist.v7.2014 - 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; 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
  • Werner, F. 1900. Reptilien und Batrachier aus Sumatra, gesammelt Herrn. Gustav Schneider jr., im Jahre 1897-1898. Zool. Jahrb. (syst) 13: 479-508 - get paper here
 
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