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Citation: Midtgaard, Rune. RepFocus - A Survey of the Reptiles of the World. (www.repfocus.dk).
Latest update: December 31st, 2022.


Taxonomy of the family Geoemydidae
Bibliography of the genus Melanochelys
Biodiversity of the family Geoemydidae








Genus
Melanochelys

Indian Black Turtles

Vorderindische Erdschildkröten

Indiske Sorte Sumpskildpadder

1869 Melanochelys Gray (type species: Emys trijuga Schweigger 1812)
1876 Chaibassia Theobald (type species: Geoemyda tricarinata Blyth 1856; syn. Fritz & Havas 2006)

Contents: 2 species, none of which are endemic.
Endemism: 0% 100%
Distribution: S. Asia.
Reported from: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India (Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Delhi, Goa, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal), Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka.

Melanochelys tricarinata

Tricarinate Hill Turtle, Three-keeled Land Tortoise, Three-keeled Turtle, Red-striped Freshwater Turtle, Eastern Hill Terrapin

Dreikiel-Erdschildkröte

Indisk Trekølskildpadde, Indisk Trekileskildpadde

1856 Geoemyda tricarinata Blyth
Chaibassia tricarinata Theobald 1876
Nicoria tricarinata Lydekker 1889
Geoemyda tricarinata Siebenrock 1909
Melanochelys tricarinata McDowell 1964
1879 Chaibassia theobaldi Anderson (Fritz & Havas 2006)
1889 Nicoria tricarinata var. sivalensis Lydekker (Fritz & Havas 2006)

Distribution: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal), Nepal.


Melanochelys trijuga

Indian Black Turtle, Indoburmese Pond Turtle, Madras Pond Turtle, Indian Pond Terrapin

Schwarzbauch-Erdschildkröte

Indisk Sort Sumpskildpadde

1812 Emys trijuga Schweigger
Clemmys trijuga Fitzinger 1835
Melanochelys trijuga Gray 1869
Nicoria trijuga Boulenger 1889
Geoemyda trijuga Siebenrock 1909
1830 Emys thermalis Lesson
Clemmys thermalis Strauch 1862
Nicoria trijuga var. thermalis Boulenger 1889
Geoemyda trijuga thermalis Siebenrock 1909
Melanochelys trijuga thermalis Deraniyagala 1939
1831 Emys sebae Gray (Fritz & Havas 2006)
Geoclemys seba Gray 1856
Melanochelys sebae Gray 1870
Emys trijuga var. sebae Anderson 1879
1834 Emys belangeri Lesson in Bélanger (Fritz & Havas 2006)
1876 Melanochelys edeniana Theobald
Nicoria trijuga var. edeniana Boulenger 1889
Geoemyda trijuga edeniana Siebenrock 1909
Melanochelys trijuga edeniana Deraniyagala 1939
1878 Emys trijuga var. coronata Anderson
Nicoria trijuga var. coronata Bruner 1908
Geoemyda trijuga coronata Siebenrock 1909
Melanochelys trijuga coronata Pritchard 1979
1879 Emys trijuga var. burmana Anderson (Fritz & Havas 2006)
1879 Emys trijuga var. madraspatana Anderson (Fritz & Havas 2006)
1885 Clemmys theobaldi Lydekker (Fritz & Havas 2006)
Bellia theobaldi Lydekker 1889
1913 Geoemyda indopeninsularis Annandale
Geoemyda trijuga indopeninsularis Smith 1931
Melanochelys trijuga indopeninsularis Deraniyagala 1939
Melanochelys edeniana indopeninsularis Bour 2002
1915 Geoemyda trijuga plumbea Annandale (Fritz & Havas 2006)
1939 Melanochelys trijuga parkeri Deraniyagala
Geoemyda trijuga parkeri Mertens & Wermuth 1955
1979 Geoemyda trijuga wiroti Reimann in Nutaphand
Melanochelys trijuga wiroti Stubbs 1989
Melanochelys edeniana wiroti Bour 2002

Other common names:
coronata: Malabar Black Turtle, Cochin Black Turtle, Black Hill Tortoise
edeniana: Burmese Black Turtle
indopeninsularis: Eastern Black Turtle, Bengal Black Turtle
parkeri: Sri Lanka Black Turtle, (Parker's Black Turtle)
thermalis: Red-spotted Black Turtle, Spotted Black Turtle, (Sri Lanka Black Turtle)
trijuga: Peninsular Black Turtle
wiroti: Thai Black Turtle
Remarks: Continued presence in Gujarat needs confirmation, where it is considered regionally extinct (Patel & Vyas 2019).
Introduced to: Chagos Archipelago.
Distribution: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India (Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Delhi, Goa, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal), Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka.


Melanochelys trijuga
© Henrik Bringsøe