The Indian Pangshura tecta, also known as the Indian sawback turtle, is a critically endangered aquatic turtle that lives in the continental rivers of South Asia.
Specimen 523 collected in a tributary of the Ganges River in India
The dorsal carapace of the Indian pan-backed turtle is towering into a roof ridge, and the nodule of the third section of the keel is the highest point of the dorsal carapace.
The posterior edge of the dorsal carapace has a slightly serrated structure, especially in juvenile age. The neck shield is small and square.
The shape of the first spine varies, with narrower and curved lateral lines in front of adults and straight lateral lines in juvenile turtles.
The third section of the spine protrudes backwards, touching the longer fourth section of the spine. The fifth section of the spine is wider than the other vertebrae.
The breastplate is large and the sides of the juvenile turtle are horned.
The larynx is at a right angle to the seam of the humerus. The armpits and groin are large. The head is medium and the snout is short.
There are serrations on the side of the jawbone, and there are no serrations in the center of the upper jaw. The alveolar surface of the maxillary bone rises on the proximal medial ridge. The mandible is shorter in diameter than the eye socket.
The limbs have scales. The shell is olive in color, and the juveniles have some black spots, especially behind the first three segments of the spine. Adult turtle shells are more consistent.
The breastplate is orange or pink with black spots and brown edges and yellow circumferences.
The head is black , and the jaws and sides are orange. The neck is black with yellow lines , and the limbs are dark olive in color and have yellow spots.
Adult females basking their backs
Males are brighter than females and have a longer and thicker tail. Females are larger. The maximum length of the dorsal carapace in adult females is generally 30 cm, and the male is about 23 cm.
Adult male individuals
The Indian pan-backed turtle is found mainly in the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Indus rivers in Pakistan and India, as well as in the Muhanadi Basin.
They are relatively quiet turtles that inhabit slow-flowing rivers and lakes. They also occur in mangrove areas of soda areas (river estuaries). The environment with soft riverbeds and rich aquatic plants is ideal for them.
Sub-adults with bright colors
Indian pan-backed turtles are generally omnivorous turtles, mainly feeding on aquatic plants in rivers and other water bodies and semi-aquatic plants on the shore, especially the hyacinth blue (that is, the water hyacinth that pollutes the water body as the main invasive species) will occasionally prey on insects that fall into the water, and enterprises eat fish and shrimp, but it is clumsy to catch fish in the wild environment.
CB individuals bred by foreign enthusiasts
Male Indian pan-backed turtles grow a small nodule on their tail during the breeding season (native to October), which makes it easier to insert the cloaca of females during mating, and can also be stuck in the cloaca to prevent genital exfoliation during mating, which is similar to the barbs on male chimpanzee JB, but this nodule will fall off on its own after the breeding period in March every year.
Female turtles nest and lay their eggs every March, often choosing sandy land by the water's edge to nest. Pits of 14 to 20 cm are usually dug to lay eggs, and then buried with their hind limbs.
Females lay 3-14 eggs at a time. Length 3.5-4.5 cm, width 2.1-2.9 cm.
The eggs that have just been laid by the Indian pan-backed turtle are white, and if they are fertilized and well-developed eggs, they will turn blue, which is very helpful for artificial reproduction, and it is possible to distinguish whether they are fertilized or not by color.
After about 144 days, the young turtles hatched.
No picture of the egg was found, and the fertilized egg was almost the same color as the face of this Indian bride
In recent years, the natural population of the Indian pan-backed turtle has declined sharply due to pollution of the Ganges River and various reasons. Therefore, this species was listed in Appendix I of the Washington Convention on International Trade in Endangered Animals and Flora for a long time.
Small conservation centres have also been established in both India and Pakistan to maintain the natural population of this endangered turtle.
In addition, in Japan, Indonesia and Thailand, there are many enthusiasts and private breeding farms in Artificial Breeding of Indian Pan-ridged Turtles.
In China, India, the pan-backed turtle is equivalent to a national key protected wild animal, breeding and selling is illegal, do not break the law!!
Finally, put an Easter egg, the Indian pan-back turtle T-shirt and backpack sold by foreign websites, men and women and children's models.
The following is the purchase link:
https://shop.spreadshirt.at/1084303/pangshura+tecta?q=I122550502
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Author: Heart Moon Fox: Article from: Crawling Boundary; Follow me to take you to learn more about reptiles.