Kachuga smithii

Taxobox | name = Brown-roofed Turtle
status = LR/nt|

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regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Reptilia
ordo = Testudines
familia = Geoemydidae
genus = "Kachuga"
species = "K. smithii"
binomial = "Kachuga smithii"
binomial_authority = (Gray, 1863)
synonyms =
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Brown-roofed Turtle "Kachuga smithii" is a species of turtle found in South Asia.

Description

Carapace much depressed, feebly keeled. Nuchal shield small, trapezoidal, broadest posteriorly; first vertebral with sinuous lateral borders, usually a little narrower in front than behind; second vertebral shortest, broader than long, usually with straight or slightly convex posterior border; third vertebral considerably longer than broad, subquadrangular, posterior border straight or slightly convex, fourth vertebral longest, tapering anteriorly and forming a narrow suture with the third; fifth vertebral much broader than the others. Plastron feebly angulated laterally, large; front lobe rounded, hind lobe angularly notched and as long as or a little shorter than the width of the bridge; the longest median suture is that between the abdominals, which about equals the length of the front lobe; gulars usually shorter than the suture between the humerals, their suture with the latter shields forming a right angle; inguinal large, axillary smaller. Head moderate; snout short, obtuse, feebly prominent; jaws with denticulated edge, upper not notched mesially; alveolar surface of upper jaw broad, the median ridge nearer the inner than the outer border; bony choanae between the orbits; the width of the lower jaw at the symphysis is less than the diameter of the orbit. Fore limbs with large transverse scales. Pale olive-brown above; dorsal keel usually blackish; plastral shields and lower surface of marginals dark brown, bordered with yellow. Length of shell 8.5 inches. [Boulenger, G. A. 1890. Fauna of British India. Reptilia and Batrachia.]

Races
*"smithii": Bangladesh, India, Pakistan
*"pallidipes": India, Nepal

Distribution

* Pakistan, NW India (Indus River system), Bangladesh (rarely in the Ganges River)

Kachuga Smithii as a pet

In Pakistan Kachuga Smithii is getting a very common as a household pet as it is cheaper to buy a Kachuga Smithii in Pakistan than a Red Eared Slider(imported Mostly from Bangkok or Hongkong). Most Brown roofed turtles end up dead in captivity as captors have very little idea what to feed and how to treat them properly.

They are considered to be herbivorous but in captivity they can eat anything ranging from Turtle sticks to fish pellets, as well as plants

References

*
* Auffenberg, Walter;Khan, Naeem Ahmed 1991 Studies of Pakistan reptiles: Notes on Kachuga smithi Hamadryad 16: 25-29
* Gray, J.E. 1863 Notice of a new species of Batagur. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1863: 253.
* Spinks, Phillip Q.; Shaffer, H. Bradley; Iverson, John B; McCord, William P. 2004 Phylogenetic hypotheses for the turtle family Geoemydidae. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 32(1):164-182

External links

*
* http://itgmv1.fzk.de/www/itg/uetz/herp/photos/Kachuga_smithi.jpg