Pelusios sinuatus, 036
Pelusios sinuatus (Smith 1838) –
Serrated Hinged Terrapin
Donald G. Broadley1 and Richard C. Boycott2
1Biodiversity Foundation for Africa,
P.O. Box FM 730, Famona, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe [[email protected]];
2P.O. Box 5245, Mbabane, Swaziland [[email protected]]
Summary. – The serrated hinged terrapin, Pelusios sinuatus (Family Pelomedusidae), is the largest species in its genus (carapace length up to 55 cm), with females larger than males. This is the typical deep water terrapin commonly found in the rivers and lakes of eastern Africa—large numbers can often be seen basking on suitable logs, rocks, mudbanks, or on the backs of sleeping hippopotami. During the rainy season these terrapins migrate overland and colonize isolated pans and waterholes. Nesting takes place at the beginning of the rainy season, October–November in southern Africa, but has also been recorded as late as April, with nests being excavated up to 500 m from the water. The clutch size varies from 7 to 30 eggs. The species exudes a foul odor when handled and is not currently exploitated and is not considered threatened, except for populations in polluted rivers downstream from industrialized areas.
Distribution. – Botswana, Burundi, Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe. Distributed in East Africa from southern Ethiopia and Somalia south to Swaziland and northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, extending westwards to Lake Tanganyika and the upper Zambezi.
Synonymy. – Sternotherus sinuatus Smith 1838, Sternothaerus (Tanoa) sinuatus, Pelusios sinuatus, Pelusios sinuatus sinuatus, Sternotherus dentatus Peters 1848, Sternothaerus dentatus, Sternothaerus bottegi Boulenger 1895, Pelusios sinuatus zuluensis Hewitt 1927, Pelusios sinuatus leptus Hewitt 1933.
Subspecies. – None currently recognized.
Status. – IUCN 2009 Red List: Not Listed (= Least Concern, LR/lc) (assessed 1996, needs updating); CITES: Not Listed; South African Red Data Book: Not Listed.
Citation:
Broadley, D.G. and Boycott, R.C. 2009. Pelusios sinuatus (Smith 1838) – serrated hinged terrapin. In: Rhodin, A.G.J., Pritchard, P.C.H., van Dijk, P.P., Saumure, R.A., Buhlmann, K.A., Iverson, J.B., and Mittermeier, R.A. (Eds.). Conservation Biology of Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises: A Compilation Project of the IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group. Chelonian Research Monographs No. 5, pp. 036.1–036.5, doi:10.3854/crm.5.036.sinuatus.v1.2009, //iucn-tftsg.org/cbftt/.
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Pelusios sinuatus, adult female with a mass of 7 kg from Ndumu Game Reserve, northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
Photo by R.C. Boycott.
Distribution:
Distribution of Pelusios sinuatus in Africa. Red points = museum and literature occurrence records based on Iverson (1992) plus more recent and authors’ data; green shading = projected distribution based on GIS-defined hydrologic unit compartments (HUCs) constructed around verified localities and then adding HUCs that connect known point localities in the same watershed or physiographic region, and similar habitats and elevations as verified HUCs (Buhlmann et al., in press), and adjusted based on authors’ data.