Designed by Paul Smith 2006. This website is copyrighted by law.
Material contained herewith may not be used without the prior written permission of FAUNA Paraguay.
Material on this page was provided by Paul Smith and Harald Artner and is used with their permission.
PANTANAL SWAMP TURTLE Acanthochelys macrocephala
This rarely observed turtle was only described in 1992 and is confined to the River Paraguay watershed in western Brazil, southern Bolivia and the Paraguayan Chaco. They are found in shallow pools, often clogged with water weeds. These pools tend to dry out during the dry season forcing the turtles to burrow into soft mud and wait for the rains to come again to wake them from their slumber.
Click on the images to enlarge them.
FIGURE 1 - (FPREP906PH) Adult, Laguna Capitán, Departamento Presidente Hayes (Paul Smith April 2015).
FIGURE 2 - (FPREP1PH) Head detail of adult female, Central Chaco (Harald Artner February 2004).
FIGURE 3 - (FPREP2PH) Dorsal view of same individual (Harald Artner February 2004).
FIGURE 4 - (FPREP3PH) Ventral view of same individual (Harald Artner February 2004).
FIGURE 5 - (FPREP814PH) Adult lateral, Zoologico Juan XXIII, Departamento Itapúa (Paul Smith June 2013).
FIGURE 6 - (FPREP815PH) Same individual as (FPREP814PH) frontal (Paul Smith June 2013).
FIGURE 7 - (FPREP4PH) Carapace dorsal view, Loma Plata, Departamento Presidente Hayes (Paul Smith October 2007).
FIGURE 8 - (FPREP5PH) Ventral view of same individual (Paul Smith October 2007).
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