Arrau River Turtle
| Class: Reptilia:
Reptiles |
Diet: Plants |
| Order:
Chelonia: Turtles and Tortoises |
| Size: 961
- 76 cm (24 - 30 in) |
| Family: Pelomedusidae:
Greaved Turtles |
Conservation Status: Lower risk-Conservation dependent |
| Scientific Name:
Podocnemis expansa |
Habitat: Orinoco
and Amazon River systems |
| Range:
Northern South America |
 The
largest of the side-necks, the arrau turtle may weigh over 45 kg (100 lb).
Females have wide, flattened shells and are larger and more numerous than
males. Adults feed entirely on plant matter. The nesting habits of
these turtles are similar to those of sea turtles in that they gather in
large numbers to travel to certain suitable nesting areas. They lay their
eggs on sandbanks which are exposed only in the dry season, and there are
relatively few such sites. The females come out onto the sandbanks at night,
and each lays as many as 90 or 100 softshelled eggs. They then return to
their feeding grounds. The hatchlings, which are about 5 cm (2 in) long,
emerge to the attentions of many predators; even without man's activities,
only about 5 percent reach adult feeding grounds. Uncontrolled hunting
of adults and excessive collecting of eggs have seriously reduced the population
of this turtle. It is now an endangered species and is protected in most
areas.
  
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