 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 gray on top, yellow underneath
Head: broad head with protruding snout, squared off upper jaw carapace
olive to dark gray, brown • head gray-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
Behavior:
fast in dry season
reproduction/life
span
Mate: in
water
Breeding: nest on low sandy beaches and sandbars in dry season •
suitable sites apear, 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 and tributaries, adjacent lagoons and forest ponds
Range: Caribbean drainages of Guyana and Venezuela, upper Amazon tributaries
in Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela and 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 and eggs • threatened by habitat alteration and
destruction • predators include jaguars and crocodiles
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