Indian tent turtle

Indian tent turtle
P. t. tentoria Chambal River, Uttar Pradesh, India
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)
CITES Appendix II (CITES)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Testudines
Suborder:	Cryptodira
Superfamily:	Testudinoidea
Family:	Geoemydidae
Genus:	Pangshura
Species:	P. tentoria
Binomial name
Pangshura tentoria (Gray, 1834)
Synonyms
Pangshura tentoria tentoria Emys tentoria Gray, 1834 Batagur (Pangshura) tentoria — Gray, 1856 ? Emys namadicus Theobald, 1860 (nomen nudum) Clemmys tentoria — Strauch, 1862 Pangshura tentoria — Günther, 1864 Pangshura tentori [sic] Theobald, 1868 (ex errore) Pangshura tentorium — Gray, 1869 Emys (Pangshura) tectum var. intermedia Blanford, 1870 Cuchoa tentoria — Gray, 1870 Pangshura leithii Gray, 1870 ? Emys namadica — Boulenger, 1889 Kachuga intermedia — Boulenger, 1889 Kachuga tectum intermedia — Annandale, 1912 Kachuga tectum tentoria — M.A. Smith, 1931 Kachuga tecta tentoria — Mertens, L. Müller & Rust, 1934 Kachuga tentoria tentoria — Pritchard, 1979 Pangshura tentoria tentoria — Das, 2001 Kachuga tentnria [sic] Artner, 2003 (ex errore) Pangshura tentoria circumdata Kachuga tecta circumdata Mertens, 1969 Kachuga tecta circumbata [sic] Thelwall, 1971 (ex errore) Kachuga tentoria circumdata — Pritchard, 1979 Pangshura tentoria circumdata — Das, 2001 Pangshura tentoria flaviventer Pangshura flaviventer Günther, 1864 Cuchoa flaviventris [sic] Gray, 1870 (ex errore) Kachuga tecta flaviventer — Mertens, 1969 Kachuga tentoria flaviventer — Moll, 1987 Pangshura tentoria flaviventer — Das, 2001

The Indian tent turtle (Pangshura tentoria) is a species of turtle in the family Geoemydidae. The species is found in India, Nepal, and Bangladesh.

Description

P. tentoria is a small species of turtle, growing to a maximum straight carapace length of 27 cm (11 in).

Subspecies

Three subspecies of P. tentoria are recognized as being valid, including the nominotypical subspecies.

• Pangshura tentoria tentoria (Gray, 1834)
• Pangshura tentoria circumdata (Mertens, 1969)
• Pangshura tentoria flaviventer (Günther, 1864)

Nota bene: A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Pangshura.

Geographic range

P. tentoria is found in Peninsular India, Nepal, and Bangladesh at elevations below 80 m (260 ft) asl.

• P. t. tentoria – Mahanadi and Godavari river drainages in India (country endemic)
• P. t. circumdata – upper and central Ganges river drainage in India and southern Nepal
• P. t. flaviventer – lower Ganges drainage in Bangladesh, India, and southern Nepal

Type locality: "in Indiae Orientalis regione Dukhun [=Deccan] dicta "; restricted by M.A. Smith 1931: 128, to "Dhond, Poona Dist.", India.

Habitat

P. tentoria is primarily a riverine turtle that occurs in both small and large rivers. They bask on rocks and tree snags. Females are largely herbivores while males and juveniles are more carnivorous.

Reproduction

P. tentoria is oviparous.

Further reading

• Gray JE (1834). "Characters of several New Species of freshwater tortoises (Emys) from India and China". Proc. Zool. Soc. London 2: 53–55. (Emys tentoria, new species, p. 54). (in English and Latin).
• Günther ACLG. (1864). The Reptiles of British India. London: The Ray Society. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xxvii + 452 pp. + Plates I-XXVI. (Pangshura tentoria, pp. 34–35 + Plate IV, figures C, C').
• Smith MA (1931). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Amphibia. Vol. I.—Loricata, Testudines. London: Secretary of State for India in Council. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xxviii + 185 pp. + Plates I-II. (Kachuga tectum tentoria, pp. 128–129).

External links

• Spinks, Phillip Q.; Shaffer, H. Bradley; Iverson, John B.; McCord, William P. (2004). "Phylogenetic hypotheses for the turtle family Geoemydidae" (PDF). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 32 (1): 164–182. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2003.12.015. PMID 15186805. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 June 2010.
• http://www.chelonia.org/kachuga_gallery.htm