Heosemys annandalii (Yellow-Headed Temple Turtle)
The common name of this Freshwater-Turtle in English is commonly called Yellow-Headed Temple Turtle and Thai name called เต่าบึงหัวเหลือง (Dtao Beung Hua Leuang), เต่าบัว (Dtao Bua), เต่าหม้อ (Dtao Mor), เต่าวัดหัวเหลือง (Dtao Wat Hua Leuang).
เต่าบึงหัวเหลือง : Heosemys annandalii (Boulenger, 1903)
Heosemys annandalii is a species of the Pond Turtle Genus (Heosemys) within the Freshwater Pond Turtle Family (Geoemydidae), Superfamily Testudinoidea, in the Suborder Cryptodira, in the Turtles Order (Testudines), in the Reptile Class (Reptilia), in the Chordate Phylum (Chordata) in the Animal Kingdom (Animalia).
Published in Boulenger, G.A. Report on the batrachians and reptiles. Fasciculi Malayensis, Zool., 1: 130-176. (1903).
The specific epithet 'annandalii' Named after Dr. "Thomas" Nelson Annandale (1876-1924), zoologist and Superintendent of the Indian Museum, Calcutta.
Geographic Range
The range of Heosemys annandalii includes Cambodia, the Mekong lowlands of Lao PDR, northern Malaysia, central and southern Thailand, and southern Viet Nam (Iverson 1992, Tana et al. 2000). Its presence in peninsular Myanmar is uncertain.
Habitat and Ecology
Heosemys annandalii inhabits lowlands, and is not found in hilly areas or fast flowing waters (Tana et al. 2000). It inhabits wetlands, inundated fields, wet forests, and swamps, and is not a riverine turtle per se (Bonin et al. 2006).
Nevertheless, some very large specimens have been observed at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River, near Bangkok (Smith 1931), as the species tolerates saline waters.
Generation length is estimated at 37 years (age of first reproduction = 15 years, longevity = 70, reproductive period = 55, z = 0.4). Three generations is 111 years.
Type locality: Kampong Jalor [Pattani, Southern Thailand]
The species is collected for local consumption and for international trade for consumption (in China). The specimens in the trade in Cambodia apparently come from Thailand (B. Horne pers. comm. 2018). Specimens in the trade in Viet Nam do not originate in the country (T. McCormack pers. comm. 2018).
Synonym
- Cyclemys annandalii George Albert Boulenger (1903)
- Hieremys annandalei Malcolm Arthur Smith (1916)
- Cyclemys annandali R. Mell (1929)
- Cyclemys annandalei Malcolm Arthur Smith (1930)
- Hieremys annandalii Malcolm Arthur Smith (1930)
- Hieremys annandali Robert Mertens & Lorenz Müller & Rust (1934)
- Hieremys annandalii Ulrich Manthey & Wolfgang Grossmann (1997)
- Hieremys annandalii Merel J. Cox et al. (1998)
- Heosemys annandalii Arvin Cantor Diesmos, J.F. Parham, Bryan L. Stuart & Rafe M. Brown (2005)
- Hieremys annandali Markus Auer (2011)