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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