Black spine-neck swamp turtle

The black spine-neck swamp turtle (Acanthochelys spixii), also commonly known as the spiny-neck turtle or Spix's sideneck turtle, is a species of turtle in the family Chelidae. The species is endemic to South America, specially in the Southern Cone region.

Black spine-neck swamp turtle
Conservation status
Near Threatened  (IUCN 2.3)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Testudines
Suborder:	Pleurodira
Family:	Chelidae
Genus:	Acanthochelys
Species:	A. spixii
Binomial name
Acanthochelys spixii (A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1835)[2]
Synonyms[3]
Emys depressa Spix, 1824: 4 (junior homonym)[4] Emys aspera Gray, 1830: 16 (10:7) (nomen dubium et oblitum) Platemys spixii A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1835: 409[2] (nomen novum) Acanthochelys spixii — Gray, 1873: 305 (recombination)[5]

Etymology

The specific name, spixii, is in honor of German biologist Johann Baptist von Spix.^[6]

Geographic range

A. spixii is found in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay,^[7] and possibly Paraguay.

References

1. Tortoise & Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group (2016) [errata version of 1996 assessment]. "Acanthochelys spixii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 1996: e.T76A97260200. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.1996.RLTS.T76A13075785.en. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
2. Duméril AMC, Bibron G (1835). Erpétologie Générale ou Histoire Naturelle Complète des Reptiles, Tome Second [Volume 2]. Paris: Librairie Encyclopédique de Roret. ii + 680 pp. (Platemys spixii, new name, p. 409). (in French).
3. Turtle Taxonomy Working Group (van Dijk PP, Iverson JB, Rhodin AGJ, Shaffer HB, Bour R) (2014). "Turtles of the world, 7th edition: annotated checklist of taxonomy, synonymy, distribution with maps, and conservation status". In: Rhodin AGJ, Pritchard PCH, van Dijk PP, Saumure RA, Buhlmann KA, Iverson JB, Mittermeier RA (Editors) (2014) Conservation Biology of Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises: A Compilation Project of the IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group. Chelonian Research Monographs 5 (7): 000.329–000.479, doi:10.3854/ crm.5.000.checklist.v7.2014.
4. Spix JB von (1824). Animalia nova; sive, Species novae Testudinum et Ranarum, quas in itinere per Brasiliam annis 1817-20 collegit et descripsit. Munich: F.S. Hübschmann. iv + 53 pp. (Emys depressa, new species, p. 4). (in Latin).
5. Gray JE (1873). "Observations on Chelonians, with Descriptions of new Genera and Species". Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Fourth Series 11: 289-308. (Acanthochelys spixii, new combination, p. 305).
6. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Acanthochelys spixii, p. 250).
7. Species Acanthochelys spixii at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.