Big-headed Amazon River Turtle

About the Big-headed Amazon River Turtle

The big-headed Amazon River turtle (Peltocephalus dumerilianus), also known as the big-headed sideneck, is a species of turtle in the family Podocnemididae. An additional, much larger species of Peltocephalus is known, the extinct Peltocephalus maturin.

Peltocephalus is the most basal podocnemidid genus, splitting off in the Cretaceous around 86 million years ago. The specific name, dumerilianus, is in honor of French herpetologist André Marie Constant Duméril. The largest specimen recorded possessed a 50 cm-long (1.6 ft) carapace and weighing 15 kg (33 lb). Alfred Russel Wallace recorded finding a remarkably large Peltocephalus specimen on which eight people fed, with enough for leftovers for the next day. The exact size of this specimen is unknown.

Sexual dimorphism is present like in most turtles, with males being larger with wider heads and longer tails. It is considered morphologically similar to another podocnemidid, the Madagascan big-headed turtle, which is similarly omnivorous unlike the herbivorous genus Podocnemis.

P. dumerilianus is found in Brazil (Amazonas, Pará), Colombia, French Guiana, Venezuela... Wikipedia →