South American keel turtle [1] ( Rhinoclemmys punctularia ) is a species of turtles in the Asian freshwater turtles family. It has 2 subspecies.
| South American keel turtle |
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| Scientific classification |
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| No rank : | Bilateral symmetrical |
| Superfamily : | Land turtles |
| Family: | Asian freshwater turtles |
| View: | South American keel turtle |
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| International scientific name |
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Rhinoclemmys punctularia daudin , 1801 |
| Synonyms |
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- Testudo punctularia
- Emys punctularia
- Nicoria punctularia
- Geoemyda punctularia
- Rhinoclemmys flammigera
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The total length of the carapace reaches 25.4 cm. The head is small. The carapace is domed with a keel in the middle. The marginal flaps of the carapace are slightly raised. Foot pads are not very developed.
The head is black with a pattern of yellow and red stripes and spots, dots, which bifurcates from the back of the head and looks like the letter “X”. The bands are usually two. The lower part of the head and neck is yellow in color with dark dots. The jaws are yellow. The nose can have 2 bright spots: yellow or red. The pupil is green or bronze. The carapace is black or dark brown. The plastron is red-brown or black with a yellow rim around the entire plastron and each shield. The membrane is yellow in color with 2 large dark spots. The limbs are black with yellow stripes and spots.
Subspecies differ in their coloration. In Rhinoclemmys punctularia punctularia, a yellow or red stripe on both sides of the head goes from the top of the eye to the tympanum, 2-3 light spots on the back of the head and one light spot in front of the eyes. Rhinoclemmys punctularia flammigera has a complex radial pattern on its head, consisting of numerous spots that form a semicircle. Also, one bright spot in front of the eye on each side and 2 bright spots on the back of the head.
He loves all kinds of ponds in the forests and savannahs. Leads a semi-terrestrial lifestyle. It hunts both on land and in water. Often basking in the sun. It feeds on plants, fish, shellfish, crustaceans, amphibians.
The female lays 1-2 oblong white eggs with a fragile shell size of 52-75x30-37 mm. There are several clutches per season.
Pretty quickly they get used to captivity and to the owner.
The species is common in the Orinoco River Basin and the lower Amazon, from eastern Colombia and Venezuela through Guiana, Guyana and Suriname to northeast Brazil. It is also found in Trinidad.
