Podocnemis

Podocnemis is a genus of aquatic turtles, commonly known as South American river turtles, in the family Podocnemididae. The genus consists of six extant species occurring in tropical South America.^[1] Four additional species are known only from fossils. These turtles have pig-like noses but are not closely related to the pig-nosed turtle.

Podocnemis Temporal range: Miocene–Recent PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Podocnemis unifilis, yellow-spotted river turtle
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Testudines
Suborder:	Pleurodira
Family:	Podocnemididae
Subfamily:	Podocnemidinae
Genus:	Podocnemis Wagler, 1830
Species
6 species, see text

Species

These six species are extant.^[1]

• Podocnemis erythrocephala (Spix, 1824) – red-headed Amazon River turtle
• Podocnemis expansa (Schweigger, 1812) – Arrau turtle
• Podocnemis lewyana A.H.A. Duméril, 1852 – Magdalena River turtle
• Podocnemis sextuberculata Cornalia, 1849 – six-tubercled Amazon River turtle
• Podocnemis unifilis Troschel, 1848 – yellow-spotted river turtle, yellow-headed sideneck^[2]
• Podocnemis vogli L. Müller, 1935 – savanna side-necked turtle

Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Podocnemis.

Fossil species

The following four species are extinct, all from Neogene deposits in South America:

• Podocnemis bassleri †
• Podocnemis medemi †^[3]
• Podocnemis pritchardi †^[3]
• Podocnemis tatacoensis †Cadena & Vanegas, 2023.^[4]

Cast of the skull of the extinct species P. bassleri (AMNH 1662)

The Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) species "Podocnemis" parva Haas, 1978, based on remains from the West Bank, is now assigned to Algorachelus, as A. parvus.^[5]

References

1. Podocnemis. The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
2. Yellow-headed sideneck, iNaturalist
3. Wood RC (1997). "Turtles". In: Kay RF, Madden RH, Cifelli RL, Flynn JJ (editors). Vertebrate Paleontology in the Neotropics. The Miocene Fauna of La Venta, Colombia. Washington, District of Columbia: Smithsonian Institution Press.
4. Cadena, Edwin-Alberto; Vanegas, Rubén Dario (2023). "A new fossil turtle ends the controversy on the occurrence of the extant genus Podocnemis Wagler, 1830 at the Miocene fauna of La Venta, Colombia". Geodiversitas. 45 (3): 127–138. doi:10.5252/geodiversitas2023v45a3. S2CID 257258234. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
5. Pérez-García, A. (2018). "New information on the Cenomanian bothremydid turtle Algorachelus based on new, well-preserved material from Spain". Fossil Record. 21 (1): 119–135. Bibcode:2018FossR..21..119P. doi:10.5194/fr-21-119-2018.

Further reading

• Boulenger GA (1889). Catalogue of the Chelonians, Rhynchocephalians, and Crocodiles in the British Museum (Natural History). New Edition. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). x + 311 pp. + Plates I-III. (Genus Podocnemis, pp. 200–201, Figures 50–51).
• Goin CJ, Goin OB, Zug GR (1978). Introduction to Herpetology, Third Edition. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman and Company. xi + 378 pp. ISBN 0-7167-0020-4. (Podocnemis, pp. 149, 271–272).
• Wagler J (1830). Natürliches System der AMPHIBIEN, mit vorangehender Classification der SÄUGTHIERE und VÖGEL. Ein Beitrag zur vergleichenden Zoologie. Munich, Stuttgart and Tübingen: J.G. Cotta. vi + 354 pp. + one plate. (Podocnemis, new genus, p. 135). (in German and Latin).