Nilssonia leithii

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Cladus: Craniata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Cladus: Archelosauria
Division: Pan-Testudines
Division: Testudinata
Ordo: Testudines
Subordo: Cryptodira
Superfamilia: Trionychoidea

Familia: Trionychidae
Subfamilia: Trionychinae
Genus: Nilssonia
Species: Nilssonia leithii
Name

Nilssonia leithii (Gray 1872: 330)
Type locality: "Poonah," India.
Syntypes: BMNH 1947.3.4.15 and 1947.3.6.7.

Synonyms

Trionyx leithii Gray 1872
Trionys javanicus Gray 1831: 19/48 (partim)
Potamochelys stellatus Gray 1864: 85
Aspilus gataghol Gray 1872: 330
Isola leithii Baur 1893
Trionyx sulcifrons Annandale 1915
Trionyx leithii Alderton 1988
Aspideretes leithii Ernst & Barbour 1989
Aspideretes leithii Gemel & Praschag 2003
Aspideretes leithii Bonin et al 2006
Nilssonia leithii Praschag et al. 2007
Aspideretes leithii Fritz & Havas 2007
Aspideretes leithii Vyas 2007
Aspideretes leithii Murthy 2010: 24
Nilssonia leithii Liebing et al. 2012
Nilssonia leithii TTWG 2014: 417

References

Gray, J.E. 1872. Notes on the mud-tortoises of India (Trionyx, Geoffroy). Annals and Magazine of Natural History. (4) 10: 326-340.
Turtle Taxonomy Working Group (van Dijk, P.P., Iverson, J.B., Rhodin, A.G.J., Shaffer, H.B. & Bour, R.) 2014. Turtles of the world, 7th edition: annotated checklist of taxonomy, synonymy, distribution with maps, and conservation status. Chelonian Research Monographs 5(7):000.329–479 Reference page.
Turtle Taxonomy Working Group (Rhodin, A.G.J., Iverson, J.B., Bour, R., Fritz, U., Georges, A., Shaffer, H.B. & van Dijk, P.P.). 2017. Turtles of the World: Annotated Checklist and Atlas of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution, and Conservation Status (8th Ed.). Chelonian Research Monographs 7: 1–292. ISBN 978-1-5323-5026-9. DOI: 10.3854/crm.7.checklist.atlas.v8.2017. Paywall. Full article (PDF). Reference page.

Vernacular names
čeština: Kožnatka Leithova
Deutsch: Leiths Weichschildkröte
English: Leith's softshell turtle

Leith's softshell turtle (Nilssonia leithii) is a species of turtle in the family Trionychidae. The species is found in peninsular Indian rivers including the Bhavani, Godavari, and Moyar Rivers. The type locality is Pune in India.

Etymology

The specific name, leithii, is in honor of Andrew H. Leith, a physician with the Bombay Sanitary Commission.[3]
Description

Nilssonia leithii is intermediate between Nilssonia gangetica and Nilssonia hurum. It is like the former in the width of the interorbital apace, the comparatively short mandibular symphysis, and the markings of the head. It is like the latter in the longer and more pointed snout, the absence of a strong ridge on the inner alveolar surface of the mandible, and in the presence, in the young, of four or more dorsal ocelli, which are, however, smaller than in N. hurum.[4]

Adults may attain a straight carapace length of 64 cm (25 in).[5]
Diet

Nilssonia leithii preys on mosquito larvae, crabs, freshwater molluscs, and fish. They also sometimes feed on small aquatic vegetation. [5]
Reproduction

The adult female N. leithii lays eggs in June. The eggs are spherical, and the diameter of each egg is 30 to 31 mm (1.2 in).[5]
Geographic range

Leith's softshell turtle is endemic to peninsular India in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu[1] and Odisha[1]
References

Praschag, P.; Das, I.; Choudhury, B.C.; Singh, S. (2021). "Nilssonia leithii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2021: e.T2174A2778380. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-1.RLTS.T2174A2778380.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
Fritz 2007, pp. 310–311
Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Nilssonia leithii, p. 155).
Boulenger GA (1890). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Batrachia. London: Secretary of State for India in Council. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xviii + 541 pp. (Trionyx leithii, p. 12).

Das I (2002). Snakes and other Reptiles of India. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 144 pp. ISBN 0-88359-056-5. (Aspideretes leithii, p. 138).