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Trionyx triunguis (FORSKÅL, 1775)

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Higher TaxaTrionychidae (Trionychinae), Trionychoidea, Testudines (turtles)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Nile Soft-shelled Turtle
G: Afrikanische Weichschildkröte, Nil-Weichschildkröte 
SynonymTestudo triunguis FORSKÅL 1775
Testudo striata SUCKOW, partim 1798
Trionyx aegytiacus GEOFFROY 1809 (nomen subst. pro Testudo triunguis)
Testudo nilotica — SHAW & NODDER 1810: plates 907,908
Trionyx niloticus GRAY 1831 (nomen subst. pro Testudo triunguis)
Testudo triunguis — CUVIER 1831: 18
Trionyx aegytiacus — CUVIER 1831: 18
Trionyx labiatus BELL 1837
Trionyx niloticus— SCHLEGEL et al. 1838: 31
Trionyx mortoni HALLOWELL 1844
Aspidonectes aspilus COPE 1860
Fordia africana GRAY 1869
Trionyx labiatus — SOWERBY 1872
Trionyx triunguis — PETERS 1876
Trionyx triunguis rudolfianus DERANIYAGALA 1948: 30
Trionyx triunguis — ALDERTON 1988
Trionyx triunguis — ERNST & BARBOUR 1989: 100
Trionyx triunguis — SINDACO & JEREMČENKO 2008
Trionyx triunguis — SPAWLS et al. 2018: 47
Trionyx triunguis — TTWG 2021
Trionyx triunguis77383 
Distributionmost of the African continent except the waterways of southern and NW Africa.
White (below Murchison Falls) and Blue Nile drainages, Lakes Rudolf and Albert, the tributaries of the Congo River, W/C/N Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire), and most drainages in West Africa incl. Gabon, Mauritania.
Along the coasts of Israel, Lebanon, Syria, and Turkey, Greece (Kos),
Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan (Jumhūriyyat), Republic of South Sudan (RSS), S Somalia, Kenya, Angola, southwest to N Namibia and west to Senegal; Mali, Central African Republic, Togo, Equatorial Guinea,
Gambia (HÅKANSSON 1981), Cameroon

Type locality: Nile River.  
Reproductionoviparous. 
TypesHolotype: Lost, according to R. G. Webb (pers. comm., cited in Iverson 1992: 318) 
DiagnosisAdditional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (1788 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentTrionyx triunguis has not been found in Lake Victoria. Not listed by ENGELMANN et al. (1993).

Habitat: freshwater (rivers and tributaries, lakes), but enters brackish (”marine”) waters.

Distribution: For a map with localities in Equatorial Guinea see SÁNCHEZ-VIALAS et al. 2022. For a distribution map see TÜRKOZAN (2007) and Bar et al. 2021.

See BAUR (1893) for a historical definition of Trionyx and related genera.

Type species: Testudo triunguis FORSKÅL 1775 is the type species of the genus Trionyx GEOFFROY 1809 (non Trionyx OKEN 1816 = fossil Mammalia; non Trionyx HALIDAY 1833 = Hymenoptera). Note that Fitzinger 1843 explicitly designated Trionyx granosus (= Lissemys punctata) as type species of Trionyx. However, this type designation is invalid as Bory de St. Vincent had already selected a type for Trionyx (fide Smith 1963). 
Etymologytriunguis means “three-clawed”, referring to the three toes on each hind foot.

The genus was named after Latin tri- = three + Greek ónýx (ὄνῠξ), genet. ónýkhos (ὄνῠχος) (masculine) = claw, nail, hoof, talon (after Karataş & Çiçek 2022) The gender is masculine (Smith 1963) 
References
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