Arrau Turtle

scientific name

Podocnemis expansa

size

Size: carapace to 3 ft
Weight: up to 100 lbs • males smaller

characteristics

Body: oval, flattened carapace widest point behind center • carapace scutes usually lack ridges or raised annuli rings • one scale between eyes with groove • plastron, bridge and undersides or marginals yellow, neck grey on top, yellow underneath
Head: broad head with protruding snout, squared off upper jaw carapace olive to dark gray, brown • head grey-brown with yellow markings • jaws tan • juveniles and males have yellow spots on heads
Feet: limbs gray • 5 claws on front limbs, 4 on back

Behaviour: fast in dry season

reproduction/life span

Mate. in water
Breeding: nest on low sandy beaches and sandbars in dry season • suitable sites arear, as many as 500 females may congregate at one site • dig body pit 32-40 in deep, flask-shaped nest up to 32 in deep excavated in bottom of pit • pits and nests may be shared
Gestation. female basks 6+ hr per day to hasten egg development • after several weeks go back to water and emerge in groups at night to explore beach for a few nights until lay eggs together • lays 63-136 eggs per nest • eggs spherical 1-2 in • may lay more than 1 clutch per season
Incubation: about 50 days • hatchlings about 1.5 in

diet

Wild: herbivorous • fruits, flowers, roots, soft vegetation of aquatic plants • will eat meat in captivity

habitat/range

Habitat: : large rivers & tributaries, adjacent lagoons and forest ponds
Range: Caribbean drainages of Guyana & Venezuela, upper Amazon tributaries in Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela & Brazil, Trinidad

status

IUCN endangered • FWS endangered

other

called Giant South American River Turtle • tataruga in Brazil, charapa in Peru, arrau in Venezuela

note

overexploited for meat, oil & eggs • threatened by habitat alteration and destruction • predators include jaguars & crocodiles