Batagur dhongoka

Common Names:

Three-striped roofed Turtle

Taxonomy:

Kingdom  :   Animalia
Phylum  :    Chordata
Class  :    Reptilia
Order  :    Testudines
Family  :    Geoemydidae
Genus  :    Batagur
Species  :   B. dhongoka (Gray, 1832)

Conservation Status:

IUCN :   Critically Endangered 
IWPA :    Schedule I
CITES :   Appendix II
U.S ESA :   Not listed

Distribution:

The Three-striped roofed turtle ranges throughout northern India, Nepal, and Bangladesh.

Distribution Map of Three Striped Roofed Turtle (Source:https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/10953/152042542 )

Characteristics, Habitat and Behaviour:

Shell length of females can reach up to 48 cm while for males it is only 26 cm. They are found in moderate to large rivers and nest on sand banks. Their peak nesting season is March and April. Males are omnivorous while the diet of females is unknown.

Major Threats:

• The species is heavily exploited for its flesh.
• Loss of habitat, due to human interference.

References:

Iverson, J.B. (1992). A revised checklist with distribution maps of the turtles of the world. Privately printed, Richmond, Indiana, 313 pp.

Anderson, J. (1879). Anatomical and zoological researches: compris- ing an account of the zoological results of the two expeditions to western Yunnan in 1868 and 1875. London. Vol. I, 985 pp., Vol. II, plates.

Moll, E.O. (1986). Survey of the freshwater turtles of India. Part 1: The genus Kachuga. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 83:538–552.

Das, I. (1991). Colour Guide to the Turtles and Tortoises of the Indian Subcontinent. R & A Publishing Ltd., Avon, England, 133 pp.

http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/10953/0

http://www.turtlesurvival.org/component/taxonomy/term/summary/38/45#.V05rjJN97Vo

http://www.turtlesurvival.org/component/taxonomy/term/summary/38/45#.V05rjJN97Vo