Common snakeneck turtle
Encyclopedia
The eastern long-necked turtle (Chelodina longicollis), also known as the eastern snake-necked turtle, common snake-necked turtle or common long-necked turtle, has as its most distinctive feature its extremely long neck. In some cases, this turtle's neck can be as long as its carapace
. It is a type of side-necked turtle, meaning that it bends its head sideways into its shell rather than pulling it directly back.
The eastern long-necked turtle
also has powerful webbed feet for swimming, digging, and tearing apart prey. Its carapace (shell) is flattened, broad, and brown with black-edged scutes. On the underside plates (plastron) there are distinctive black lines or seams.
These turtles are found in the inland slow-moving freshwater habitats such as swamps, dams, and lakes of Australia
, from northern Queensland
to South Australia
. They prefer a soft, sandy bottom and will bask on logs or rocks during the day.
When it feels threatened, this turtle will emit an offensive smelling fluid from its musk gland
s. This trait gives the turtle one of its other common names, "stinker."
The eastern long-necked turtle is carnivorous, eating a variety of animals. This includes insects, worm
s, tadpoles
, frogs, small fish
, crustaceans, and molluscs.
In early summer, the female will lay between 2 and 10 eggs in the banks of her aquatic habitat. Three to five months later the hatchlings break out of their shells. These young turtles often fall prey to predators such as fish and birds. Females will lay 1 to 3 clutches of eggs per year.
Carapace
A carapace is a dorsal section of the exoskeleton or shell in a number of animal groups, including arthropods such as crustaceans and arachnids, as well as vertebrates such as turtles and tortoises. In turtles and tortoises, the underside is called the plastron.-Crustaceans:In crustaceans, the...
. It is a type of side-necked turtle, meaning that it bends its head sideways into its shell rather than pulling it directly back.
The eastern long-necked turtle
Turtle
Turtles are reptiles of the order Testudines , characterised by a special bony or cartilaginous shell developed from their ribs that acts as a shield...
also has powerful webbed feet for swimming, digging, and tearing apart prey. Its carapace (shell) is flattened, broad, and brown with black-edged scutes. On the underside plates (plastron) there are distinctive black lines or seams.
These turtles are found in the inland slow-moving freshwater habitats such as swamps, dams, and lakes of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, from northern Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
to South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
. They prefer a soft, sandy bottom and will bask on logs or rocks during the day.
When it feels threatened, this turtle will emit an offensive smelling fluid from its musk gland
Musk
Musk is a class of aromatic substances commonly used as base notes in perfumery. They include glandular secretions from animals such as the musk deer, numerous plants emitting similar fragrances, and artificial substances with similar odors. Musk was a name originally given to a substance with a...
s. This trait gives the turtle one of its other common names, "stinker."
The eastern long-necked turtle is carnivorous, eating a variety of animals. This includes insects, worm
Worm
The term worm refers to an obsolete taxon used by Carolus Linnaeus and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck for all non-arthropod invertebrate animals, and stems from the Old English word wyrm. Currently it is used to describe many different distantly-related animals that typically have a long cylindrical...
s, tadpoles
Tadpoles
Tadpoles are a psychedelic rock band formed in 1990 in New York City by Todd Parker , Michael Kite Audino and Josh Bracken In 1992, Nick Kramer , David Max and Andrew Jackson of the fledgling Manhattan group, Hit, joined the Tadpoles after putting Hit on hiatus.In 1993 Kite and Jackson left the...
, frogs, small fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
, crustaceans, and molluscs.
In early summer, the female will lay between 2 and 10 eggs in the banks of her aquatic habitat. Three to five months later the hatchlings break out of their shells. These young turtles often fall prey to predators such as fish and birds. Females will lay 1 to 3 clutches of eggs per year.