Batagur baska

Taxobox | name = Batagur baska
status = CR
status_system = iucn2.3

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image_width = 200px
image_caption = Three terrapins (Batagur baska) from a gazetted conservation site at Kuala Berang, Terengganu, Malaysia.
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Sauropsida
ordo = Testudines
subordo = Cryptodira
familia = Geoemydidae
genus = "Batagur"
species = "B. baska"
binomial = "Batagur baska"
binomial_authority = (Gray, 1831)
synonyms =
range_

range_map_width = 250px
range_map_caption =

The Batagur, also called giant river turtle or mangrove terrapin ("Batagur baska") is a species of riverine turtle. It is one of the most critically-endangered turtle species according to a 2003 assessment by the IUCN. "Batagur baska" is a rare and endangered Asian river terrapin also called the "Royal Turtle" in Cambodia because its eggs were a royal delicacy.

Description

Carapace moderately depressed, with a vertebral keel in the young, which keel disappears in the adult; nuchal broader than long; first vertebral as broad in front as behind, or a little broader; vertebrals 2 to 4 subequal, much broader than long in the young, nearly as long as broad and as broad as the costals in the adult, the postero-lateral border of the third vertebral strongly concave. Plastron large, strongly angulate laterally in the young, convex in the adult, truncate anteriorly, angularly notched posteriorly; the width of the bridge exceeds the length of the posterior lobe; the longest median suture is that between the abdominals, the shortest that between the gulars, the latter never more than half that between the humerals; inguinal large, axillary smaller. Head rather small; snout pointed, produced, directed upwards; jaws with denticulated edge, upper feebly notched mesially; the width of the lower jaw at the symphysis nearly equals the diameter of the orbit. Limbs with transversely enlarged, band-like scales. Maximum carapace length is 60cm. Upper surface of shell and soft parts olive-brown, lower surface yellowish. [Boulenger, G.A.(1890) Fauna of British India. Reptilia and Batrachia.]

Distribution

The Batagur is found only in parts of India such as Bengal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Peninsular Malaysia (Kedah, Perak and Terengganu), Sumatra, Indonesia and Cambodia (Cardamom Mountains), and populations have been sharply declining in recent years.

Decline

Many Asian turtles are in danger because of the thriving trade in animals in the region, where a species' rarity can add to its value on a menu or as a traditional medicine.

The species was thought to have disappeared in Cambodia until it was rediscovered in 2001. Conservationists eventually began tagging the animals with tracking devices and monitoring their nests, and King Norodom Sihamoni personally ordered their protection.

In Malaysia, rivers of Kedah, Perak and Terengganu are major nesting grounds though the population continues to crash despite conservation efforts undertaken by Malaysian Wildlife Department for over 20 years. Pasir Temir and Pasir Lubuk Kawah by the Terengganu River are the largest nesting sites for "Batagur baska" in the world.

Cited references

Other references

* Database entry includes justification for why this species is critically endangered
* Das, Indraneil (1989) "Batagur baska in Orissa" "Hamadryad: The Journal of the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust" 14(1): 2-3
* Gray,J.E. (1857) "Notice of some Indian tortoises (including the description of a new species presented to the British Museum by Professor Oldham)" "Annals and Magazine of Natural History" 19(2): 342-344
* Platt, S.G.; Bryan L. Stuart; Heng Sovannara; Long Kheng, Kalyar and Heng Kimchhay (2003) "Rediscovery of the critically endangered river terrapin, Batagur baska, in Cambodia, with notes on occurrence, reproduction, and conservation status" "Chelonian Conservation and Biology" 4(3): 691

External links

* [http://www.umt.edu.my/ctrec/index.htm Centre for Turtle Research and Conservation]
*NRDB species|genus=Batagur|species=baska