Chelodina

Chelodina, collectively known as snake-necked turtles, is a large and diverse genus of long-necked chelid turtles with a complicated nomenclatural history.^[2] Although in the past, Macrochelodina and Macrodiremys have been considered separate genera and prior to that all the same, they are now considered subgenera of the Chelodina,^[2] further Macrochelodina and Macrodiremys are now known to apply to the same species, hence Chelydera is used for the northern snake-necked turtles.^[3]

Chelodina Temporal range: Eocene–Recent PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Australian snake-necked turtle (Chelodina longicollis)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Testudines
Suborder:	Pleurodira
Family:	Chelidae
Subfamily:	Chelodininae
Genus:	Chelodina Fitzinger, 1826 [1]
Type species
Testudo longicollis Shaw, 1794

Chelodina is an ancient group of chelid turtles native to Australia, New Guinea, the Indonesian Rote Island, and East Timor. The turtles within this subgenus are small to medium-sized with oval shaped carapace. They are side-necked turtles, meaning they tuck their head partially around the side of their body when threatened instead of directly backwards.

Chelydera represents those species that have often been termed the Chelodina B group or thick necked snake neck turtles. The subgenus was described in 2020 by Thomson & Georges (in Shea et al. 2020). They are a side-neck turtle of the family Chelidae with extremely long necks and long flattened heads. They are specialist fish eaters using a strike and gape mode of feeding. They are medium to large species with the largest Chelodina (Chelydera) expansa reaching shell lengths of some 45 cm (18 in).^[4] The first fossils (C. (Chelydera) alanrixi) are known from Queensland from the Eocene period (Lapparent de Broin, F. de, & Molnar, R. E., 2001).^[5]

Macrochelodina (Wells & Wellington, 1985) is a monotypic subgenus of the Chelodina. Its sole member is the enigmatic Chelodina (Macrochelodina) oblonga from Western Australia.

Taxonomy

Current taxonomy follows that of Georges & Thomson, 2010^[2] with updates from van Dijk et al. 2014^[6] and Shea et al. 2020.^[3]

Synonymous names for the Chelodina Fitzinger 1826 genus include: Hydraspis Bell 1828, Chelyodina Agassiz 1846:79 (nomen novum), Hesperochelodina Wells and Wellington 1985 (nomen nudum).

The type species for the Chelodina subgenus is Chelodina longicollis (Shaw, 1794). The type species for the Chelydera subgenus is Chelodina parkeri Rhodin and Mittermeier 1976. The type species for Macrochelodina is Chelodina oblonga Gray 1841.

List of species

Common name	Scientific name[a]	IUCN Red List Status[6]	Picture
Subgenus: Chelodina Fitzinger, 1826
Cann's snake-necked turtle	Chelodina canni McCord & Thomson, 2002[7]	LC
Gunalen's snake-necked turtle	Chelodina gunaleni McCord & Joseph-Ouni, 2007[8]	DD
Aramia snake-necked turtle	Chelodina ipudinapi Joseph-Ouni, & McCord, 2022
Eastern long-necked turtle	Chelodina longicollis (Shaw, 1794)	LC
Roti Island snake-necked turtle McCord's snakeneck turtle	Chelodina mccordi Rhodin, 1994b[9]	CR IUCN
New Guinea snake-necked turtle	Chelodina novaeguineae Boulenger, 1888	LC IUCN
Reimann's snake-necked turtle	Chelodina reimanni Philippen and Grossmann, 1990	NT IUCN
Pritchard's snake-necked turtle	Chelodina pritchardi Rhodin, 1994a[10]	EN IUCN
Steindachner's long-necked turtle Dinner-plate turtle	Chelodina steindachneri Siebenrock, 1914	LC
Subgenus: Chelydera Thomson & Georges, 2020[3]
Arnhem Land long-necked turtle	Chelodina burrungandjii Thomson, Kennett & Georges, 2000[11]	LC
Giant snake-necked turtle	Chelodina expansa Gray, 1857	LC
Kuchling's snake-necked turtle	Chelodina kuchlingi Cann, 1997[12]	NE
Darwin snake-necked turtle	Chelodina kurrichalpongo (Joseph-Ouni, McCord, Cann, & Smales, 2019)	NE
Parker's snake-necked turtle	Chelodina parkeri Rhodin and Mittermeier, 1976	VU IUCN
Northern snake-necked turtle North Australian snake-necked turtle	Chelodina rugosa Ogilby, 1890[13]	NT IUCN
Kimberley long neck turtle	Chelodina walloyarrina	NE
Subgenus: Macrochelodina Wells & Wellington 1985
Southwestern snake-necked turtle Narrow-breasted snake-necked turtle Oblong turtle	Chelodina oblonga Gray, 1841[14]	NT

Extinct species

Fossil of Chelodina insculpta

There are three identified extinct species of Chelodina:

• †Chelodina alanrixi de Broin and Molnar, 2001^[5] is a species of snake-necked fossil turtle which was described in 2001 using material gathered in Redbank Plains, Queensland, Australia. It is a member of the Chelidae Pleurodira. The fossil has been dated to the Eocene Epoch.
• †Chelodina insculpta de Vis, 1897^[15] is an extinct species of snake-necked turtle that was described in 1897 from material gathered in Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia, restricted.^[16] It is a member of the Chelidae; Pleurodira. The fossil has been dated as Pliocene to Pleistocene.
• †Chelodina murrayi Yates, 2013^[17] is an extinct species of snake-necked turtle from the Waite Formation on the Alcoota Scientific Reserve,^[17] north-east of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory of Australia. The species would appear to belong to the Chelodina novaeguineae group of species within the subgenus Chelodina.

Notes

1. A binomial authority in parentheses indicates the species was originally described in a genus other than Pelusios.