Northern snake-necked turtle

Northern snake-necked turtle
Chelodina rugosa
Conservation status
Near Threatened  (IUCN 2.3)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Testudines
Suborder:	Pleurodira
Family:	Chelidae
Genus:	Chelodina
Subgenus:	Chelydera
Species:	C. rugosa
Binomial name
Chelodina rugosa Ogilby, J.D., 1890[2]
Distribution of C. (M) rugosa in Australia and New Guinea.
Synonyms[6][7]
Chelodina rugosa Ogilby 1890:56[2] Chelodina siebenrocki Werner 1901a:60>[3] Chelodina intergularis Fry 1915:88[4] Macrochelodina billabong Wells and Wellington 1985:9[5] (nomen nudum)

The northern snake-necked turtle or northern long-necked turtle (Chelodina (Chelydera) rugosa) is a species of turtle in the family Chelidae or Austro-South American Side-necked Turtles. It is native to northern Australia and southern New Guinea.

The species was described in 1890 from material collected in Cape York of Queensland, Australia. The species has in recent years had several species of turtle synonymised with it,^[7] the distribution includes northern Australia, Indonesia and Pitcairn. As a member of the sub-family Pleurodira this species is a side-necked turtle and also a snake-necked strike and gape predator. This carnivorous turtle will consume fish, tadpoles, hatchling turtles, worms, crickets, etc.

It is not an aggressive species with a biting defense. Individuals tend to flail to escape rather than bite. This species can be found not only in fresh water, but due to the proximity of the south New Guinea coast and close off shore islands, it also can be found in brackish water. Chelodina rugosa tends to hide under and between rocks and logs where possible or buries itself in the mud to act as an ambush predator to fish, amphibian, and invertebrate prey. Sexual dimorphism is quite evident in this species. Females can be easily recognized by the very short, stubby tail.