Hydromedusa tectifera

The Argentine snake-necked turtle, also known commonly as the South American snake-necked turtle is a species of turtle in the family Chelidae. The species is known for the long neck to which its common names refer. Despite appearances, the Argentine snake-necked turtle is probably more closely related to the mata mata than to the Australian snake-necked turtles in the genus Chelodina. H. tectifera is found in northern Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and southern Brazil. Not much is known about it, as it has not been extensively researched. It is a popular pet in the exotic pet trade.

Hydromedusa tectifera

Uncredited · CC BY-SA 2.5 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
Argentine snake-necked turtlePBDB
Sits inside
HydromedusaPBDB
Diet
piscivorePBDB, for Chelidae
Life habit
amphibious, solitaryPBDB, for Chelidae
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
freshwaterPBDB, for Chelidae

Time the record covers

At least 3.6 million years on record.

The record covers at least 3.8 Mya to 129 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 5 Mya to 11.7 ka.

Miocene — about 0 of 8 occurrencesPliocene — about 1 of 8 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 7 of 8 occurrencesPleistoceneHolocene — about 0 of 8 occurrences5.1–5.0 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences5.0–4.8 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.8–4.6 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.6–4.4 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.4–4.2 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.2–4.0 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.0–3.9 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences3.9–3.7 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences1.8–1.6 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences1.6–1.5 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences1.5–1.3 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences1.3–1.1 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences1.1–917 ka Mya — about 0.4 occurrences917 ka–733 ka Mya — about 0.5 occurrences733 ka–550 ka Mya — about 0.7 occurrences550 ka–367 ka Mya — about 0.7 occurrences367 ka–183 ka Mya — about 0.7 occurrences183 ka–0 Mya — about 2 occurrences3.8 Mya129 ka5.5 Mya0 Mya

8 occurrences of Hydromedusa tectifera on record, most of them in the Pleistocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

8 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

3 formations

Pampean — 34.64°S, 59.98°WAgua Blanca — 38.48°S, 61.80°WTouro Passo — 29.65°S, 56.87°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Hydromedusa tectifera has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 2 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Hydromedusa tectifera and its relatives

Pleistocene

Where Hydromedusa tectifera and its relatives were recorded in the Pleistocene.

Found in the same rock

65 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 3 sites for Hydromedusa tectifera, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

4 references

Each of the 8 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. Each entry links to the Paleobiology Database's own record for the work.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Hydromedusa tectifera

Credit
nobody named on the record
Licence
CC BY-SA 2.5
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
not stated by the source
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Hydromedusa tectifera · smf:70500

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itHydromedusa through timeFormations of the PleistoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Cope 1869