Podocnemis

Podocnemis Temporal range: Miocene–Recent PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Podocnemis unifilis, yellow-spotted river turtle
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Testudines
Suborder:	Pleurodira
Family:	Podocnemididae
Subfamily:	Podocnemidinae
Genus:	Podocnemis Wagler, 1830
Species
6 species, see text

Podocnemis is a genus of aquatic turtles, commonly known as South American river turtles, in the family Podocnemididae. The genus consists of six extant species occurring in tropical South America.^[1] Four additional species are known only from fossils. These turtles have pig-like noses but are not closely related to the pig-nosed turtle.

These six species are extant.^[1]

• Podocnemis erythrocephala (Spix, 1824) – red-headed Amazon River turtle
• Podocnemis expansa (Schweigger, 1812) – Arrau turtle
• Podocnemis lewyana A.H.A. Duméril, 1852 – Magdalena River turtle
• Podocnemis sextuberculata Cornalia, 1849 – six-tubercled Amazon River turtle
• Podocnemis unifilis Troschel, 1848 – yellow-spotted river turtle, yellow-headed sideneck^[2]
• Podocnemis vogli L. Müller, 1935 – savanna side-necked turtle

Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Podocnemis.

The following four species are extinct, all from Neogene deposits in South America:

• Podocnemis bassleri †
• Podocnemis medemi †^[3]
• Podocnemis pritchardi †^[3]
• Podocnemis tatacoensis †Cadena & Vanegas, 2023.^[4]

The Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) species "Podocnemis" parva Haas, 1978, based on remains from the West Bank, is now assigned to Algorachelus, as A. parvus.^[5]

• Boulenger GA (1889). Catalogue of the Chelonians, Rhynchocephalians, and Crocodiles in the British Museum (Natural History). New Edition. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). x + 311 pp. + Plates I-III. (Genus Podocnemis, pp. 200–201, Figures 50–51).
• Goin CJ, Goin OB, Zug GR (1978). Introduction to Herpetology, Third Edition. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman and Company. xi + 378 pp. ISBN 0-7167-0020-4. (Podocnemis, pp. 149, 271–272).
• Wagler J (1830). Natürliches System der AMPHIBIEN, mit vorangehender Classification der SÄUGTHIERE und VÖGEL. Ein Beitrag zur vergleichenden Zoologie. Munich, Stuttgart and Tübingen: J.G. Cotta. vi + 354 pp. + one plate. (Podocnemis, new genus, p. 135). (in German and Latin).