Species Emydura victoriae (Gray, 1842)
North-west Red-faced Turtle, Victoria River Red-faced Turtle
- Hydraspis victoriae Gray, J.E. 1842. Description of some hitherto unrecorded species of Australian reptiles and batrachians. pp. 51-57 in Gray, J.E. (ed.). The Zoological Miscellany. London : Treuttel, Würz & Co. [55].
Type data:
Syntype(s) BMNH 1947.3.5.95-6, Victoria River, NT.
Generic Combinations
- Emydura victoriae (Gray, 1842). —
Georges, A. & Thomson, S. 2010. Diversity of Australasian freshwater turtles, with an annotated synonymy and keys to species. Zootaxa 2496: 1-37 [27]
Miscellaneous Literature Names
- Emydura australis Gray, 1841 [possibly valid name, see Introduction]. —
Cogger, H.G. 1975. The Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia. Sydney : A.H. & A.W. Reed 584 pp.
Introduction
Two names have been applied to short necked turtles from the Kimberley region of WA, Emydura australis (Gray, 1841) and Emydura victoriae (Gray, 1842) which have been variously treated as distinct (e.g., Cann & Sadlier, 2017) or synonymous (e.g., Cogger 1975) with E. australis (Gray, 1841) having priority. However, confusion around the type location of E. australis (Gray, 1841)(potentially from Macquarie River, NSW) has led to that species being treated as nomen dubium and placed in the synonymy of E. macquarii (e.g. Cogger, 1983, Georges & Thomson 2010), leaving Emydura victoriae (Gray, 1842) as the next available name for the species from the Kimberley. More recently Kehlmaier et al. (2019, 2024) have established that the type specimen of E. australis is deeply divergent from E. macquarii and incorrectly synonymised under that taxon (Kehlmaier et al. 2019), and that E. australis and E. victoriae are not genetically distinct (Kehlmaier et al. 2024). Their results suggest that a single species is present in the Kimberley to which the name Emydura australis (Gray, 1841) would apply. We retain the species here as E. victoriae until the results of Kehlmaier et al. (2019, 2024) are assessed and widely accepted.
Distribution
States
Northern Territory, Western Australia
Extra Distribution Information
Australian Endemic.
IBRA
NT, WA: Central Kimberley (CK), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Dampierland (DL), Northern Kimberley (NK), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pine Creek (PCK), Victoria Bonaparte (VB)
Ecological Descriptors
Aquatic, lentic freshwater, lotic freshwater, noctidiurnal, oviparous, predator.
Extra Ecological Information
Seasonal breeder, sexually dimorphic, general carnivore.
Common Name References
CAVS 2006. Census of Australian Vertebrate Species. Australian Biological Resources Study. (Victoria River Red-faced Turtle)
Clayton, M., Wombey, J.C., Mason, I.J., Chesser, R.T. & Wells, A. 2006. CSIRO List of Australian Vertebrates: A Reference with Conservation Status. Melbourne : CSIRO Publishing iv 162 pp. [18] (North-west Red-faced Turtle)
History of changes
| Published | As part of group | Action Date | Action Type | Compiler(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31-Oct-2018 | CHELIDAE | 19-Aug-2024 | MODIFIED | |
| 09-Aug-2012 | 09-Aug-2012 | MODIFIED | ||
| 29-Apr-2011 | 29-Apr-2011 | MODIFIED | ||
| 08-Mar-2011 | 08-Mar-2011 | MODIFIED | ||
| 12-Feb-2010 | (import) |