Yangtze giant softshell turtle

Critically endangered species of turtle / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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The Yangtze giant softshell turtle (Rafetus swinhoei), also known commonly as the Red River giant softshell turtle, the Shanghai softshell turtle, the speckled softshell turtle, and Swinhoe's softshell turtle, is an extremely rare species of turtle in the family Trionychidae. It may be the largest living freshwater turtle in the world. The species is native to eastern and southern China and northern Vietnam. Only two or three living individuals are known: one in China (captive) and one or two in Vietnam (wild).[4] Following the deaths of a wild individual in Vietnam in January 2016 and a captive individual in China in 2019, the species is listed as critically endangered in the IUCN Red List. The female of the last breeding pair died at Suzhou Zoo in China in April 2019.[5][6][7] A wild female was discovered in Vietnam on October 22, 2020, and another individual is believed to have been sighted in the same area; however, this last wild female was found dead in early 2023.[8][9][4][10]

Quick facts: Yangtze giant softshell turtle, Conservation ...
Yangtze giant softshell turtle
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One of the two R. swinhoei of Dong Mo, Son Tay, Vietnam
CITES Appendix II (CITES)[2]
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Testudines
Suborder: Cryptodira
Family: Trionychidae
Genus: Rafetus
Species:
R. swinhoei
Binomial name
Rafetus swinhoei
(Gray, 1873)
Rafetus2.png
Yangtze giant softshell turtle range
Synonyms[3]
  • Oscaria swinhoei
    Gray, 1873
  • Yuen elegans
    Heude, 1880
  • Yuen leprosus
    Heude, 1880
  • Yuen maculatus
    Heude, 1880
  • Yuen pallens
    Heude, 1880
  • Yuen viridis
    Heude, 1880
  • Trionyx swinhonis
    Boulenger, 1889
  • Pelodiscus swinhoei
    Baur, 1893
  • Trionyx swinhoei
    Siebenrock, 1902
  • Amyda swinhoei
    Mertens, L. Müller & Rust, 1934
  • Pelochelys taihuensis
    Zhang, 1984
  • Trionyx liupani
    Tao, 1986
  • Rafetus swinhoei
    Meylan, 1987
  • Pelochelys maculatus
    Zhao, 1997
  • Pelochlys maculatus
    — Zhao, 1997
  • Rafetus leloii
    Hà Dình Dúc, 2000
    (nomen nudum)
  • Rafetus hoankiemensis
    Devaux, 2001
    (nomen nudum)
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