Mesoclemmys raniceps

Mesoclemmys raniceps is a side-necked turtle found in the Amazon basin and Orinoco basin.

Maynas Province, Peru

Mesoclemmys raniceps
In Bolivia
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Testudines
Suborder:	Pleurodira
Family:	Chelidae
Genus:	Mesoclemmys
Species:	M. raniceps
Binomial name
Mesoclemmys raniceps (Gray, 1856)[1]
Synonyms[2][3]
List Hydraspis raniceps Gray, 1856 Platemys raniceps Strauch, 1862 Phrynops walbaumi Fitzinger, 1904 (nomen nudum) Phrynops wermuthi Mertens, 1969 Phrynops tuberculatus wermuthi Bour, 1973 Phrynops nasuta wermuthi Pritchard, 1979 Phrynops raniceps Bour & Pauler, 1987 Batrachemys raniceps Cabrera, 1998 Batrachemys raniceps raniceps Joseph-Ouni, 2004 Batrachemys raniceps wermuthi Joseph-Ouni, 2004 Mesoclemmys raniceps Bour & Zaher, 2005

Little is known about the turtle's life cycle, but there is evidence that the females can lay a clutch of 4-8 eggs several times in the year. Males are usually smaller than females in length. Males can be distinguished from females by the prominent white scales they have on the external border of their skin which cover the tibia. Mesoclemmys raniceps can be identified by the black stripe on each side of their head which extends from the snout through the eyes and ends at the exterior end, the tympani.^[4]