Hilaire's Side-Necked Turtle (Phrynops hilarii)
Classification: Introduced Species - While the Pig-Nosed Turtle has been seen and identified in the state of Louisiana, there are no records of any breeding populations. Sightings of this species are most likely of released or escaped pets that were imported for the pet trade. Also known to be in California.
Description: Phrynops hilarii has an oval, flattened carapace, with a maximum length of approximately 40 cm, weighing approximately 5 kg. The carapace is usually dark brown, olive, or gray, with a yellow border. The head is large and flat, gray to olive above, with a pointed snout and two bicolored chin barbels There is a black band on each side of the head, which comes out of the muzzle and passes over the eyes, going up to the neck.
Habitat: These turtles inhabit streams, lakes and swamps with abundant aquatic vegetation and soft bottoms.
Range: P. hilarii is found in southern Brazil (Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul), southward and westward into Uruguay and Argentina, and possibly also in Paraguay and Bolivia. Introduced into San Diego , California.
Found in these States:
CA
Diet: This omnivorous species mainly feed on arthropods, with a preference for copepods, ostracods, and hemipterans. They feed also on fish, birds, reptiles, small mammals and dead animals.
Reproduction: Females lay twice a year, one between February and May and the other between September and December. They lay from 9 to 14 eggs, with a maximum of 32 eggs and an incubation period of approximately 150 days.
Status: The International Union for the Conservation of Species (IUCN) lists the Hilaire's Side-necked Turtle (Phrynops hilarii) as "least concern", which is the lowest level of imperilment on the IUCN's scale.
»» Kingdom: Animalia - Animals
»» Phylum: Chordata - Chordates
»» Subphylum: Vertebrata - Vertebrates
»» Class: Reptilia - Reptiles
»» Order: Testudines - Turtles & Tortoises
»» Family: Chelidae - Austro-South American Side-Neck Turtles
»» Genus: Phrynops
»» Species: Phrynops hilarii - Hilaire's Side-Necked Turtle
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Phrynops hilarii", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0. Content may have been omitted from the original, but no content has been changed or extended.
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