Asian Or Bibron’s Giant Soft Shelled Turtle

Pelochelys is a genus of very large softshell turtles in the family Trionychidae. They are found from peninsular India northeast to southern China, and south to Southeast Asia and New Guinea.

The species in this genus, while still being freshwater turtles as with all Trionychidae, are unique for having significant salt tolerance and regularly entering near-coastal marine habitats.^[3]

Species

These three species are recognized as being valid:^[4]

• Pelochelys bibroni (Owen, 1853) – southern New Guinea giant softshell turtle^[1]
• Pelochelys cantorii Gray, 1864 – Cantor's giant softshell turtle^[1]
• Pelochelys signifera Webb, 2002 – northern New Guinea giant softshell turtle^[1]

Nota bene: In the above list, a binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Pelochelys.

References

Works cited

• Rhodin, Anders G.J.; van Dijk, Peter Paul; Iverson, John B.; Shaffer, H. Bradley; Bour, Roger (2011-12-31). "Turtles of the world, 2011 update: Annotated checklist of taxonomy, synonymy, distribution and conservation status" (PDF). Chelonian Research Monographs. 6. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2012-01-31.
• Fritz, Uwe; Havaš, Peter (2007-10-31). "Checklist of Chelonians of the World" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2011-05-01. Retrieved 2010-12-29.