Podocnemis
Genus of turtles
title: "Podocnemis" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["podocnemis", "turtle-genera", "turtles-of-south-america", "taxa-named-by-johann-georg-wagler"] description: "Genus of turtles" topic_path: "general/podocnemis" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podocnemis" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Genus of turtles ::
| oldest_fossil = Miocene | image = Podocnemis unifilis.jpg | image_caption = Podocnemis unifilis, yellow-spotted river turtle | taxon = Podocnemis | authority = Wagler, 1830 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = 6 species, see text
Podocnemis is a genus of aquatic turtles, commonly known as South American river turtles, in the family Podocnemididae. The genus consists of six extant species occurring in tropical South America. Four additional species are known only from fossils. These turtles have pig-like noses but are not closely related to the pig-nosed turtle.
Species
These six species are extant.
- Podocnemis erythrocephala (Spix, 1824) – red-headed Amazon River turtle
- Podocnemis expansa (Schweigger, 1812) – Arrau turtle
- Podocnemis lewyana A.H.A. Duméril, 1852 – Magdalena River turtle
- Podocnemis sextuberculata Cornalia, 1849 – six-tubercled Amazon River turtle
- Podocnemis unifilis Troschel, 1848 – yellow-spotted river turtle, yellow-headed sideneck
- Podocnemis vogli L. Müller, 1935 – savanna side-necked turtle
Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Podocnemis.
Fossil species
The following four species are extinct, all from Neogene deposits in South America:
- Podocnemis bassleri †
- Podocnemis medemi †
- Podocnemis pritchardi †
- Podocnemis tatacoensis †Cadena & Vanegas, 2023. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/Podocnemis_bassleri_AMNH_1662_cast.jpg" caption="Cast of the skull of the extinct species ''P. bassleri'' ([[AMNH]] 1662)"] ::
The Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) species "Podocnemis" parva Haas, 1978, based on remains from the West Bank, is now assigned to Algorachelus, as A. parvus.
References
References
- [http://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/advanced_search?genus=Podocnemis&exact%5B0%5D=genus&submit=Search ''Podocnemis'']. The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
- [https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/40146-Podocnemis-unifilis Yellow-headed sideneck, iNaturalist]
- Wood RC (1997). "Turtles". '''In:''' Kay RF, Madden RH, Cifelli RL, Flynn JJ (editors). ''Vertebrate Paleontology in the Neotropics. The Miocene Fauna of La Venta, Colombia''. Washington, District of Columbia: Smithsonian Institution Press.
- (2023). "A new fossil turtle ends the controversy on the occurrence of the extant genus ''Podocnemis'' Wagler, 1830 at the Miocene fauna of La Venta, Colombia". Geodiversitas.
- (2018). "New information on the Cenomanian bothremydid turtle ''Algorachelus'' based on new, well-preserved material from Spain". Fossil Record.
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