Giant musk turtle

{{Speciesbox

| image = Staurotypus_salvinii.jpg

| image_caption = Staurotypus salvinii in an aquarium

| status = LR/nt

| status_system = IUCN2.3

| status_ref =

| status2 = CITES_A2

| status2_system = CITES

| status2_ref = {{Cite web|title=Appendices {{!}} CITES|url=https://cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php|access-date=2023-03-01|website=cites.org}}

| genus = Staurotypus

| species = salvinii

| authority = Gray, 1864

| synonyms = *Staurotypus (Stauremys) salvinii
{{small|Gray, 1864}}

Stauremys salvinii
{{small|— Gray, 1870}}
Staurotypus marmoratus
{{small|Fischer, 1872}}
Claudius severus
{{small|Cope, 1872}}
Staurotypus (Claudius) severus
{{small|— Bocourt, 1876}}
Staurotypus salvini [sic]
{{small|Günther, 1885}} (ex errore)
Staurotypus biporcatus
{{small|Gadow, 1905}} (nomen nudum)
Staurotypus salvanii [sic]
{{small|Beltrán, 1953}} (ex errore)

| synonyms_ref = {{Cite journal|journal=Vertebrate Zoology|title=Checklist of Chelonians of the World|year=2007|author=Fritz, Uwe|author2=Havaš, Peter|volume=57|issue=2|pages=260–261|doi=10.3897/vz.57.e30895 |doi-access=free |issn=1864-5755}}

}}

The giant musk turtle (Staurotypus salvinii) , also known commonly as the Chiapas giant musk turtle or the Mexican giant musk turtle , is a species of turtle in the family Kinosternidae. The species is found in Central America.

Geographic range

S. salvinii is found in Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, western Honduras, and Mexico (Chiapas and Oaxaca).Bonin, Franck; Devaux, Bernard; Dupré, Alain (2006). Turtles of the World. (Translated by Peter C. H. Pritchard). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. 416 pp. {{ISBN|978-0801884962}}.

Habitat

The giant musk turtle prefers to inhabit slow-moving bodies of freshwater such as reservoirs, and rivers with soft bottoms and ample vegetation.{{Cite book|title=Turtles of the World|url=https://archive.org/details/turtlesofworld00erns|url-access=registration|last1=Ernst|first1=Carl H.|last2=Barbour|first2=Roger W.|publisher=Smithsonian Institution Press|year=1989|location=Washington, District of Columbia|isbn=978-0-87474-414-9 }} 313 pp. {{ISBN|978-1560982128}}.

Etymology

The specific name, salvinii, honors English naturalist and herpetologist Osbert Salvin.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. {{ISBN|978-1-4214-0135-5}}. (Staurotypus salvinii, p. 232.)

Description

S. salvinii is typically much larger than other species of Kinosternidae, attaining a straight carapace length of up to 38 cm (15 inches), with males being significantly smaller than females. It is typically brown, black, or green in color, with a yellow underside. The carapace is distinguished by three distinct ridges, or keels which run its length. The giant musk turtle tends to be quite aggressive, agile and energetic.

S. salvinii exhibits XX/XY sex determination, in contrast to the temperature-dependent sex determination of most turtles.{{Cite journal|last1=Badenhorst|first1=Daleen|last2=Stanyon|first2=Roscoe|last3=Engstrom|first3=Tag|last4=Valenzuela|first4=Nicole|date=2013-04-01|title=A ZZ/ZW microchromosome system in the spiny softshell turtle, Apalone spinifera, reveals an intriguing sex chromosome conservation in Trionychidae|url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s10577-013-9343-2|journal=Chromosome Research|language=en|volume=21|issue=2|pages=137–147|doi=10.1007/s10577-013-9343-2|pmid=23512312|s2cid=14434440|issn=1573-6849|url-access=subscription}}

Diet

Like other musk turtle species, S. salvinii is carnivorous, eating various species of fishes, crustaceans, smaller turtles, insects, mollusks, and carrion. The giant musk turtle's feeding technique is to open its mouth rapidly leading to a powerful inrush of water which sucks the prey into its mouth.

Reproduction

S. salvinii is oviparous.{{EMBL species|genus=Staurotypus|species=salvinii}} www.reptile-database.org.

References

External links

Tortoise & Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group (1996). [http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/20715/all Staurotypus salvinii ]. [https://web.archive.org/web/20140627094911/http://www.iucnredlist.org/ 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.] Downloaded on 29 July 2007.