Kachuga trivittata |
Common
Name: Burmese
Roofed Turtle
Described by: Duméril & Bibron,
1864
Conservation
Status: Endangered:
IUCN
Red List 2006
CITES:
Appendix
II |
|
|
Kachuga
range. |
Habitat:
Kachuga trivittata is an aquatic
species inhabiting large, deep rivers
and lakes (Ernst and Barbour, 1989).
Range:
Endemic to Myanmar in the Irrawaddy
and Salween river systems, and their tributaries.
Key
Threats: Collection of eggs,
hunting of adults, pollution and construction
of dams that impact nesting areas are
believed to be key threats causing the
decline of wild populations. |
|
|
More
about Kachuga trivittata:
Kachuga
trivittata is one of the world’s most
critically endangered freshwater turtles, with
less than a dozen living examples of the species
known to exist, and wild populations known only
to remain in two rivers in Myanmar.
|
Clutch
Size: Estimated
to be about 25
Nesting Season: December
to January
Nesting Sites: Sand banks |
|
|
The
Dokhtawady River in Central Myanamar. Key habitat for
Kachuga trivittata. |
| Description:
A
large river terrapin, growing to 60 cm carapace
length. A vertebral keel is present. The carapace
is elliptical and brown to gray or olive in color.
Body parts are gray. Slightly upturned nose similar
to that of Batagur baska. The plastron is yellow
to orange, sometimes with a dark specks and blotches
on each scute.
Males have three faint dark longitudinal stripes
on the carapace, and a single wide dorsal stripe
on the head (that may be more prominent during
breeding season).
Carapace
of a female |
Plastron
of a Male |
|
|
Adult
female head
Adult Male
|
This field guide was last
updated in August 2006.
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