Tortuga blanca means large white turtle in the native Indian language of Central America, and sometimes sea turtle.
But it usually refers specifically to a large local freshwater turtle--- the Dermatemys mawii Mesoamerican river turtle.
Dermatemys mawii, a Mesoamerican river turtle captured in Belize
The genus Dermatis, where the Mesoamerican river turtle Derbatemis mawii is located, once had 19 species of river water systems that spread across the globe during the Jurassic period, but now these relatives of the mesoameric are only found in fossils.
This proves that it may be the oldest population in the turtle family today.
The Mesoamerican river turtle is now found only in the rivers of southern Mexico, Guatemala and Belize, which have a unifying character by eventually merging into the Atlantic.
The maximum length of the Mesoamerican river turtle dorsal carapace is 60 cm. It is a large deep-water turtle, but this body is much smaller than its ancient family.
Fossil of Dermatemy didae, an ancient close relative of the Mesoamerican river turtle (photographed at the Hong Kong Science Museum)
The Latin scientific name of the Mesoamerican river turtle is mawii in honor of its discoverer, British Navy Lieutenant Mawe.
The larvae of the Mesoamerican river turtle have a pronounced keel on the dorsal carapace, which disappear completely by adulthood, and its shell is flat and rounded.
It is usually black and brown , with bright yellow or brownish-red heads , but individuals captured in Belize generally have black heads and off-white dorsal carapace.
The average Individual in the Belize appellation is usually only about 40 cm, and the larger individuals come from the water systems of the provinces in southern Mexico.
A Mesoamerican river turtle from Mexico
The Mesoamerican river turtle is a completely aquatic turtle that lives in water all its life in addition to laying eggs ashore, generally referring to large rivers and lagoons.
The water depth in the general living area is not less than six meters, and it will even run aground in shallow water due to its huge body. Is it really stupid to crawl?
The average water temperature in the habitat is 26 to 33 degrees Celsius, so it is not hardy.
Regarding food, it is completely vegetarian and usually eats aquatic grasses as well as plant fruits and fallen leaves that fall into the water.
Even larvae rarely actively catch fish and worms, and difficult tortoises survive only on plants that fall into the water.
According to a 2011 survey by turtle expert Zenteno in the Onbera River basin in the Tabasco region of southern Mexico, his three favorite foods are hyacinth, duckweed and coriander.
The Mesoamerican river turtle has very developed flippers which is one of the characteristics of the typical deep-water turtle
Wild individuals from Belize
A turtle scientist examines a Mesoamerican river turtle in the reserve
River turtles in Central America usually mate in April and May of each year, and females do not lay eggs until the end of November or mid-December, and some individuals do not lay eggs until February or March of the following year.
Female turtles can lay about 20 eggs at a time, but the Mesoamerican river turtle has the same diapause habit as the chicken turtles introduced earlier, so artificial breeding is still difficult.
The reason for diapause is that the location of its eggs and nests is generally about 3 meters on the riverbank, sometimes the water will flood its nest, the eggs will soak in the water, but this will not make the eggs die, and when the flood recedes, it is a dry period.
But this still can't kill its eggs, and the eggs don't begin to develop until all the harsh weather is over. After all, you can only survive by adapting to the laws of nature!
Young turtles in the wild face great danger before they emerge from their shells, with the main predators being nasua nasua the southern raccoon and the grey-necked wood-gauge straw chicken Aramides cajanea.
Sub-adults and adults will become the delicacies of the local indigenous plates.
Locals usually dig out its internal organs and hollow turtle shell, cut off the meat and limbs, and then put the internal organs and limbs head and meat together into the hollow turtle shell, placed on a wooden bracket to stew, its huge turtle shell is a natural cauldron.
There are big goose stewed in iron pots in the northeast, and large turtles stewed in turtle shells in Mexico. Even in a restaurant in southern Mexico, the meat of the Mesoamerican river turtle is sold publicly for $40 a kilogram.
Professional egg thief Southern Raccoon
Stealing someone else's eggs to raise children's grey-necked wood-rail buzzard Aramides cajanea
So in 2011, the International Foundation for Endangered Animals and Nature Red List listed the Mesoamerican river turtle as an endangered species.
The Washington Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species also lists it as An Appendix II species.
However, Mexico did not accede to the Convention, so international organizations established the Mesoamerican River Turtle Nature Reserve and Breeding Base in Belize, a neighboring country to the Convention.
A breeding center established by the TSA Turtle Survival Alliance along the Brydon River Basin (including 1,200 acres of forest) in southern Belize was also established in 2011.
But the Mesoamerican river turtle is still used as food for the locals in neighboring Guatemala.....
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