Black Soft-shell Turtle

Taxobox | name = Black Soft-shelled Turtle
status = EW | status_system = IUCN3.1


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regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Sauropsida
ordo = Testudines
subordo = Cryptodira
familia = Trionychidae
genus = "Aspideretes"
species = "A. nigricans"
binomial = "Aspideretes nigricans"
binomial_authority = (Anderson, 1875)
synonyms =
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The black soft-shelled turtle or Bostami turtle ("Aspideretes nigricans") is a species of freshwater turtle found in India (Assam) and Bangladesh (Chittagong). Where the species first lived is not known, but now the species survives from a small population (around 400 turtles) in a manmade pond which is part of a shrine in Chittagong, Bangladesh. They are dependent on humans for survival.

According to local legend, this final population are the descendants of sinners who were turned into turtles by a saint during the 13th century.

References

* Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is listed as extinct in the wild
* Anderson, J. 1875 Description of some new Asiatic mammals and Chelonia. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (4) 16: 282-285.
* Praschag, P. & Gemel, R. 2002 Identity of the black softshell turtle Aspideretes nigricans (Anderson 1875) with remarks on related species. Faun. Abh. Mus. Tierk. Dresden 23: 87-116

External links

*
* [http://ip30.eti.uva.nl/bis/turtles.php?menuentry=soorten&id=207 Turtles of the world: Aspideretes nigricans]