Das, I.

Praschag, P.

Sengupta, S.

Unimas Institutional Repository

Geoemydidae — Pangshura sylhetensis 046.1Conservation Biology of Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises: A Compilation Project of the IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist GroupA.G.J. Rhodin, P.C.H. Pritchard, P.P. van Dijk, R.A. Saumure, K.A. Buhlmann, J.B. Iverson, and R.A. Mittermeier, Eds.Chelonian Research Monographs (ISSN 1088-7105) No. 5, doi:10.3854/crm.5.046.sylhetensis.v1.2010© 2010 by Chelonian Research Foundation • Published 14 December 2010Pangshura sylhetensis Jerdon 1870 –Assam Roofed TurtleIndraneIl das1, saIbal sengupta2, and peter praschag31Institute of Biodiversity and Environmental Conservation, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, 94300 Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia [idas@ibec.unimas.my];2Department of Zoology, Arya Vidyapeeth College, Guwahati 781 016, Assam, India[senguptasaibal@yahoo.co.in];3Am Katzelbach 98, 8054 Graz, Austria [peter@praschag.at] summary. – The Assam roofed turtle, Pangshura sylhetensis (Family Geoemydidae), is a small freshwater turtle (straight carapace length [CL] only to 185 mm), with thirteen pairs of marginals and a strikingly spiked vertebral keel. The species is strongly sexually dimorphic, with female CL to 185 mm and males to 97 mm. It occurs primarily in running waters in the hills of northeastern India and northeastern and southeastern Bangladesh, where it appears rare and localized. Little information exists on the biology of this species. It apparently nests between late October and Feb-ruary, corresponding with the cool, dry season, and produces clutches of ca. 6–12 eggs, hatchlings appearing mainly between March and April, at the beginning of the Southeast Monsoons. The spe-cies is threatened by logging of primary forests that causes siltation, capture for food and the pet trade, and incidental capture in fishing gear.  dIstrIbutIon. – Bangladesh, India. Localized distributed in northeast India and northeastern and southeastern Bangladesh. synonymy. – Pangshura sylhetensis Jerdon 1870, Jerdonella sylhetensis, Kachuga sylhetensis, Kachuga (Pangshura) sylhetensis. subspecIes. – None recognized. status. – IUCN 2010 Red List: Endangered (B1+2c) (assessed 2000); CITES: Appendix II; Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act: Schedule I. Taxonomy. — Pangshura sylhetensis was described by Jerdon in 1870, based on three syntypes that were deposited in the British Museum (Natural History), from the Khasi Hills of Sylhet District (at present in Bangladesh). Subsequently, Gray (1870) transferred the taxon to a new monotypic genus, Jerdonella, but Boulenger (1889) transferred it to the broad genus Kachuga. Moll (1986, 1987) revived Pangshura as a subgenus for this and several other small turtles that were still allocated to Kachuga. More recently, this species and its relatives have been reallocated to its original genus, Figure 1. Adult male Pangshura sylhetensis from Kulsi River, Kamrup District, Assam, India. Photo by Indraneil Das.

Pangshura sylhetensis Jerdon 1870 – Assam Roofed Turtle

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