#lissemys

[herpsandbirds]

Burmese Flapshell (Lissemys scutata) hatchling, family Trionychidae, found in a garden in Letpandan, Myanmar

Photograph by Kyawphyo Thu

[herpsandbirds]

Central Indian Flapshell Turtle (Lissemys punctata vittata), family Trionychidae, India

photograph by Dipendra Maharshi

[herpsandbirds]

Central Indian Flapshell (Lissemys punctata vittata), family Trionychidae, Kachchh, Gujarat, India

Photograph by Jaysukh Parekh

[herpsandbirds]

Sri Lankan Flapshell Turtle (Lissemys ceylonensis), family Trionychidae, endemic to Sri Lanka

photograph by SpaceGecko

[herpsandbirds]

Indian Flapshell Turtle (Lissemys punctata), family Trionychidae, Bhilwara, India

photograph by M. P. Vaishnav

[herpsandbirds]

Indian Flapshell Turtle (Lissemys punctata), family Trionychidae, Bhilwara, India

photograph by Daniel Liepack

[drhoz]

#2903 - Lissemys punctata - Indian Flapshell Turtle

Happily paddling around one of the 600-year-old artificial pools at Hampi.

A common and widespread freshwater turtle in South Asia, mistakenly placed on the CITES Appendix I in 1975, but taken off the endangered species list again later when they realised that that status only applied to one subspecies.

Found in lakes, ponds, rivers, drainage ditches, and even desert ponds. In summer, when some water bodies dry out, they crawl to another or burrow into the sand or mud at the bottom of the pond. Generally omnivorous.

Courtship begins with the male stroking the female's carapace with his neck and limbs extended. If receptive, she'll face him and they'll bob their heads vertically three or four times. Near the end of mating, the male releases his grip and rotates to face the opposite direction from her, and may be dragged around by the female for up to quarter of an hour.

A protected species, but widely poached for supposed aphrosdiac qualities used as an excuse to drive up the price.

Introduced to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Fossils are known from Miocene deposits in Nepal.

Hampi, Karnataka, India.