Nakhon Ratchasima Zoo

Pig - nosed Turtle (Carettochelys insculpta)

Information English Name / Pig - nosed Turtle Science Name / Carettochelys insculpta

Interesting :

Has rough leather shell (without scutes) covering the carapace. The front led is shaped like a paddle, a soft pointed nose like a pig.

Habitat :

The pig-nosed turtle occurbs in southern Lrian Jaya (Indonesia), southern Papua New Guinea, and the major river systems of the northwestern Northern Territory in Australia.

Food :

Pig-nosed turtles are omnivorous but prefer more plant than animal matter. They typically eat fruits and leaves from the wild fig and other plants growing along the river banks.

Behavior :

rivers, streams, lakes and lagoons with soft bottoms and slow currents, and can be found in water up to 7 meters deep.

Current Status :

- Classified as Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List (2009). - Listed on Appendix II of CITES (2009). In New Guinea, Carettochelys insculpta inhabits rivers, including their deltas and estuarine reaches, grassy lagoons, swamps, lakes, and waterholes of the southern lowlands (Eisemberg et al. 2015a, b). In Australia, the species appears restricted to seasonally clear, shallow, continuously-flowing waters of the Daly drainage and to billabongs and plunge pools of the Alligator Rivers region (Webb et al. 1986; Georges and Kennett 1989; Doody et al. 2001a, 2002; Georges et al. 2008). The species is omnivorous, but feeds principally on fruits, leaves, and stems of riparian vegetation, and aquatic plants, with some molluscs, crustaceans, insects, fish, and mammals (likely eaten as carrion) also consumed (Georges et al. 2008, and references therein). Carettochelys females may reach up to 57 cm carapace length (CL) and mature at 38 cm CL (Daly River) to 41 cm (Kikori region) or larger. Maturity in females appears to be reached at about 25 yrs, with generation time of ca 30–40 years (Heaphy 1990). Female turtles nest gregariously at night on riverside or coastal marine sandbanks, and appear to produce two clutches every second year, with a non-reproducing year in between (Doody et al. 2003a, b, 2009; Georges et al. 2008). Depending on location, average clutch size ranges from 10 (Daly River, Australia) to 21 eggs (Kikori region, Papua New Guinea), with a range of 7 to 26 or more. This species exhibits embryonic diapause and temperature-dependent sex determination, with females produced at warmer temperatures and males at lower temperatures (Webb et al. 1986, Young et al. 2004). Hatching is triggered by anoxia associated with torrential rain or flooding of the nest, and can expedited by sibling vibrations (Doody et al. 2001b, 2012). Incubation duration averages 65 days in Papua New Guinea and 72 days on the Daly River in Australia. Hatchlings measure 41–56 mm CL and weigh 21–30 g. Natural egg loss rates can be high from predation (up to 25%), notably by goannas (Doody et al. 2006), and flooding (up to 20%), or intrinsic issues (infertility, developmental problems, also up to 20%) (Georges et al. 2008, and references therein). The invasion of Cane Toads in 2003 into the Daly River boosted C. insculpta recruitment by ca 20% via population declines of Yellow-spotted Monitor Lizards (Doody et al. 2006). Predation of adults occurs by Saltwater Crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus).