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Yellow-headed Sideneck
Paul Prior, CC BY 4.0, via iNaturalist

Turtles & tortoises

Yellow-headed Sideneck

Podocnemis unifilis Troschel, 1848

VU VulnerableOn Suriname's list of threatened fauna

Names

EnglishYellow-headed Sideneck
DutchZwarte Moerasschildpad
SpanishTerecay
Chinese黄头侧颈龟
Sranan Tongosekrepatu (general name for the group)
Scientific namePodocnemis unifilis Troschel, 1848

About this species

The yellow-spotted Amazon river turtle (Podocnemis unifilis), also known commonly as the yellow-headed sideneck turtle and the yellow-spotted river turtle, and locally as the taricaya, is one of the largest South American river turtles.

Podocnemis unifilis is a type of side-necked turtles, so called because they do not pull their heads directly into their shells, but rather bend their necks sideways to tuck their heads under the rim of their shells. Side-neck turtles are classified as members of the suborder Pleurodira.

Read more on Wikipedia · Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Classification

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassTestudines
FamilyPodocnemididae
GenusPodocnemis

Related species in Suriname