Yangtze giant softshell turtle

The Yangtze giant softshell turtle (Rafetus swinhoei), also known 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 endemic 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.[8][9][4]

Quick facts: Yangtze giant softshell turtle, Conservation ... ▼

Yangtze giant softshell turtle
One of the two R. swinhoei of Dong Mo, Son Tay, Vietnam
Conservation status
Critically Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
CITES Appendix II (CITES)[2]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Testudines
Suborder:	Cryptodira
Family:	Trionychidae
Genus:	Rafetus
Species:	R. swinhoei
Binomial name
Rafetus swinhoei (Gray, 1873)
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)