Irwin's Snapping Turtle -- Elseya irwini Cann, 1997

by Scott Thomson.

Irwin's Snapping Turtle

Female Elseya irwini photographed underwater. (Photo: I Lawler)
Scientific Classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Reptilia
Order:Testudines
Suborder:Pleurodira
Family:Chelidae
Subfamily:Chelininae
Genus:Elseya
Species:E. irwini
Binomial Name

Elseya irwini
Cann, 2007

Synonym's
 
One thing that is missing in many Australian Turtles is a bit of colour. Well this species is one of the few here that is an exception. With a white face, pink nose and blue eys this is quite a spectacular turtle for an Australasian species.

This turtle has proven to be difficult to catch and is rarely seen, It lives in one of the largest drainages in coastal Queensland (The Burdekin) but is sparsely distributed. To date only some 80 animals have been caught and pictured below is one of only two males ever caught.

The species is named for Bob Irwin, father of Steve Irwin from Australia Zoo and was named by John Cann of Sydney, Australia. In the description it was largely recognised by color and distribution. To date very little is known about the species although some preliminary work has been done.

Recent work by Mark Hamman and Ivan Lawler of James Cook University has found a number of new specimens including the first males, Ivan also supplied the photo's used here and on the multimedia secition for Elseya. This work is an ongoing project and hopefully a substantial population can be found. However, the likelyhood is that this is now a rare species and as such a proposal is underway to list it in the IUCN Red List. John Cann has also continued to survey for this species and has now captured some 50 animals. So finding populations of this species has been a headache. It is considered to be a species of concern to the EPA Queensland though it is not formally listed as yet.

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     Elseya irwini male (left) and female (right). (Photo: I Lawler)