Wildlifeof India
Brahminy River Turtle
Tortoises & Freshwater Turtles
Photo: (c) Aadi Kulkarni, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC-BY (May be cropped or resized)
Hardella thurjii
Basic stats
Habitat
Rivers; nesting under water in autumn
Range
Watersheds of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Indus rivers in northern India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan
Size
Females to about 46cm (up to 61cm reported); males about 18cm
The Brahminy river turtle, or crowned river turtle, is a freshwater turtle of the family Geoemydidae, endemic to South Asia. It has a large, moderately flat, dark brown or black carapace and a yellow or black plastron. Females grow much larger than males: the shell reaches about 46 cm in females and is shorter in males, while a maximum straight carapace length of 61 cm is reported for females against only 18 cm for males (Wikipedia, general species account).
It occurs in the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Indus watersheds of northern India, Pakistan and Bangladesh; the Reptile Database also lists Nepal and Assam, and Gujarat as extremely rare. Its reproduction is unusual among reptiles: in autumn, females lay their eggs under water rather than on dry land, where higher water levels submerge the eggs for 40 to 45 days. This was first documented by Indian zoologist Dhruvajyoti Basu in 2011.
Quick answers
- What habitat does the Brahminy River Turtle live in?
- Rivers; nesting under water in autumn
- Where is the Brahminy River Turtle found?
- Watersheds of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Indus rivers in northern India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan
- How big is the Brahminy River Turtle?
- Females to about 46cm (up to 61cm reported); males about 18cm