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Asian
Softshell Turtle (Dogania subplana)
35 cm
Trionyx subplanus
Geoffroy-Saint Hillaire,1809. Ann. Mus. Hist. nat., Paris 14: 11.
Dogania
subplana
Type:
Musée National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris A.5182 (holotype), from type
locality unspecified, and is either from Malaysia or Java.
Identification:
The Asian softshell turtle has a flat, oval, carapace with distinctly
straight sides. The head is unusually large, bearing a pig-like snout.
The carapace is covered with skin, and is dark olive or brown with
a dark median stripe and two or three pairs of black-centerd eye-like
spots, a pattern most distinct in juveniles and fades with growth. The
plastron is cream or gray. In juveniles, a reddish blotch occurs behind
the eyes, which disappears in the adults. Adults develop a hinge on the
carapace that presumably allows them to hide under boulders along streams.
Natural
history: A species from the highlands, the Asian softshell turtle,
inhabits clear rocky mountain streams. It is capable of inflicting a
painful bite and therefore should be handled carefully. The large head of
the turtle is thought to be adapted for cracking the shells of molluscs,
such as snails, although
almost nothing else of its biology is on record.
Distribution:
The Asian softshell turtle is found in southern Myanmar, south to
Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore, in addition to the islands of Java,
Sumatra, Borneo and some of the islands of the
Philippines.
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