Realm: Animal kingdom Animalia
Phylum: Chordata phylum Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Turtle turtle order Testudines
Family: Ground turtle family Geoemydidae
Genus: Genus Batagur
Species: Malay tide turtle B. affinis
Species Introduction
Chinese name: Malay Chao turtle (pinyin: mǎ lái cháo guī);
English name: Southern river terrapin;
Scientific name: Batagur affinis (Cantor, 1847).
The Malay tide turtle is a species of turtle in the genus Chao Turtle found in Malaysia, Indonesia and Cambodia.
The IUCN Red List (2019) is listed as: Critically Endangered (CR)
Washington Convention (CITES) Endangered Species Conservation Levels: Appendix I.
Outline feature Description
The Malay tide turtle is a large (carapace up to 625 mm) critically endangered water turtle that inhabits the southern Part of the Malay Peninsula (southern Thailand and West Malaysia), the Great Rivers and Estuaries of Sumatra, and a remnant population in Cambodia.
Subspecies and Taxonomy
1. Subspecies: Batagur affinis affinis, distributed on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and the eastern part of Sumatra in Indonesia and the southernmost tip of Thailand;
2. Subspecies: Batagur affinis edwardmolli, found on the eastern coast of Peninsular Malaysia and in the songkhla region at the southernmost tip of the adjacent eastern peninsula of Thailand, bordering the South China Sea, as well as Cambodia, where a conflict population survives in the Sre Ambel River system.
Ecological Habits
Review of the habitat and ecology of the Malay tide turtle. The species inhabits estuaries, mangrove streams, downstream river segments and coastal lagoons, usually in areas affected by tides, but may also occur over considerable distances upstream (e.g., Perak). Nesting on sandy shores, whether on rivers or sandy beaches, females may make a lot of migration between nesting and foraging grounds. Females mature at 45 cm CL and may reach 60 cm; males mature at around 40 cm CL and can reach 49 cm. This can occur in captivity at the age of 9, in less productive rivers and takes up to 25 years. Females can make up to three nests per season. In the Malaysian state of Perak, the alteration and destruction of habitats with a clutch of eggs averaging 26 has become an increasingly important factor in the decline of river turtles in many parts of Asia. Sand mining and dams are among the most serious threats to the Malay tide turtle. Commercial sand mining for architectural purposes is destroying Nest Beaches throughout tropical Asia. Dams located downstream of nesting sites hinder migration between foraging and nesting sites. Dams upstream from the nesting site do not allow sand to flow downstream to replenish the sand lost due to erosion or sand mining at nesting beaches. Malaysia's Kedah River is an example of this problem. Dams were built up and down the nesting area, and sand mining destroyed all important nesting beaches.
Geographical distribution Distribution
In Malaysia, the rivers of Kedah, Perak and Terengganu are the main nesting grounds, and despite more than 20 years of conservation work by the Malaysian Wildlife Department, their numbers are still collapsing. Pasir Temir and Pasir Lubuk Kawah on the Terengganu River are the nesting grounds of batagur baska in the world. Previously it extended to vietnam's Mekong Delta (where a handful of animals may still exist), the species emerged upstream in Cambodia's Tonle Sap Lake. In addition, archaeological turtle fragments from the lower bang Pakaong River in southeastern Thailand have been identified as Malay tide turtles, suggesting that B. Affinis have historically inhabited all major rivers discharged into the South China Sea. Nutaphand (1979) describes the isolated, now-extinct river turtle population in the northwestern Malay Peninsula south of the Burma-Thai border as B. Nutaphand (1979). b. ranongensis subspecies, most likely the Malay tide turtle. The subpopulation of the Malay tide turtle is severely depleted throughout the region and is extinct from many previously occurring areas.