Details
Carettochelys insculpta
The pig-nosed turtle has a tubular snout and sea-turtle-like flippers, yet lives in fresh water. It is the only living member of an ancient turtle family.
Map: Ecoregions 2017 © RESOLVE (CC BY 4.0) · Natural Earth (PD)
It inhabits rivers, lagoons and freshwater wetlands in southern New Guinea and northern Australia. Slow sandy or muddy channels are favored, with occasional use of estuaries.
Adults are about 50-60 cm long and 10-24 kg. The gray-green shell is leathery and pitted, and the forelimbs are powerful flippers.
This turtle is almost entirely aquatic, leaving water mainly when females nest. It swims through channels and often rests buried or partly hidden on the bottom.
It is omnivorous, taking aquatic plants, fruit, leaves, mollusks, insects and crustaceans. Ficus fruits and leaves can be important food where available.
Females nest on sandy banks during the dry season. Embryos can pause development until rain wets the nest and triggers hatching.
Egg and hatchling collection for the pet trade and changes to river systems are major threats. Its unusual appearance makes it especially vulnerable to trafficking.
