McCord's Snake-necked Turtle

About McCord's snake-necked turtle

McCord's snake-necked turtle, also known as the Roti Island snake-necked turtle, is a critically endangered turtle first found on Rote Island in Indonesia, with additional individuals later discovered in Timor-Leste that are considered a distinct subspecies. It belongs to the genus Chelodina, the Australian snake-necked turtles, within the family Chelidae, the Austro-South American side-necked turtles.

The species was originally split into three subspecies — Chelodina mccordi mccordi from western Rote, Chelodina mccordi rotensis from eastern Rote, and Chelodina mccordi timorensis from Timor — but a later study found the eastern and western Rote populations to be identical, and the two were merged. That leaves the species with two recognized subspecies today: one on Rote Island and one on Timor.

Its carapace reaches a straight length of 18 to 24 centimetres (7.1–9.4 in) and ranges from pale grey-brown to, occasionally, a chestnut hue, while the plastron is a pale buff white. The neck, nearly as long as the carapace itself, is dark brown on top and covered in round tubercles, with light beige underparts. The iris is black, ringed with white.

Both the species name, mccordi, and the common name McCord's snakeneck turtle honor Dr. William Patrick McCord, a veterinarian and turtle expert from Hopewell Junction, New York. The species was first distinguished from the New Guinea snake-necked turtle in 1994, after Dr. Anders Rhodin, director of the Chelonian Research Foundation in Lunenburg, Massachusetts, identified differences between the two. The first specimens on Rote Island had actually been found more than a century earlier, in 1891, by George Albert Boulenger.

Behavior and diet

Most of what is known about McCord's snake-necked turtle concerns its reproduction. Adults can have up to three breeding periods in a year, and a typical clutch holds eight to fourteen eggs, each about 30 mm × 20 mm (1.18 in × 0.79 in) and weighing 8 to 10 grams (0.28–0.35 oz). Incubation runs long: the first hatchlings emerge after about three months, and the last stragglers from a clutch can take up to four months.

A newly hatched turtle's shell measures about 28 mm × 20 mm (1.10 in × 0.79 in) and carries yellow spots on the plastron that darken over a few weeks until the plastron turns almost black. As the young turtles mature, their coloring gradually lightens again until it matches the paler tones of the adults.

Range and habitat

McCord's snake-necked turtle is confined to a very small range: two or three remaining populations occupy an area of only 70 km2 (27 square miles) in the central highlands of Rote Island, Indonesia, with the related Timor population found across the border in Timor-Leste. Its natural habitats are swamps, rice terraces, and small lakes.

Conservation status

McCord's snake-necked turtle is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, in a 2019 assessment. Only two or three populations remain, in an area of just 70 km² (27 sq mi) in the central highlands of Rote Island.

It is one of the most sought-after turtles in the international pet trade. It was so heavily over-collected, even before it was formally described, that legal trade was banned in 2001 because of its rarity. It was added to CITES Appendix II in 2004, but it is still captured illegally and sometimes sold under the label of the New Guinea snake-necked turtle, which is also protected.

Natural threats are few. There are some reports of predation by feral pigs and of habitat loss, but illegal capture and trade remain the main danger.