The complete etymology of the Chelodina genus (Pleurodira:Chelidae)
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Chelodina Elseya Elusor Emydura Macrochelodina Pseudemydura Rheodytes |
Chelodina (Fitzinger, 1826)
The generic name was derived from the Greek chelys (tortoise) and
the Greek deinos (terribly frightening), Latinized to dina.
Its grammatical gender is feminine. The genus Chelodina was erected
by Leopold Joseph Fitzinger (1802-1884) in 1826 to apply to the Australian
long-necked turtles with the type species, Chelodina longicollis
(Shaw, 1794) being the only member at the time. Fitzinger was in charge
of the reptile and mammal collections at the Natural History Museum of Vienna.
The chosen generic name suggests Fitzinger thought of the genus (C.
longicollis) to have frightening appearance, most likely due to its
long neck.
Chelodina canni (McCord &
Thomson, 2002)
This species was named in honour of John Cann of Sydney, Australia for his
lifetime of work with the freshwater turtles of Australia. The Australian
population of Chelodina canni was once thought to be part of the
Chelodina novaeguineae population. (McCord & Thomson, 2002) Being
named after a person, the gender of the species epithet overrules the gender
of the genus and thus is masculine. The species was described by Dr William
P. McCord and Scott A. Thomson in 2002.
Chelodina longicollis (Shaw, 1794)
The specific name was derived from the Latin longus (long) and
collum (neck). The species was originally described as Testudo
longicollis by Dr George Shaw (1751-1813) in 1794. Part of his description
says: "Character specificus: Teftudo ovata glabra, collo longiflimo"
(Shaw, 1794) where Teftudo is the mistyped Latin Testudo
(tortoise)" The specific epithet is of feminine grammatical gender. Dr Shaw
was an English medical practitioner and a lecturer in botany at Oxford University,
a founder of the Linnean Society of London and Keeper of the Natural History
Section of the British Museum.
Chelodina mccordi (Rhodin, 1994)
This species was named in honour of Dr William P. McCord, a veterinarian and owner of the East Fishkill Animal Hospital in upstate New York, USA. Being named after a person, the gender of the species epithet overrules the gender of the genus and thus is masculine. Dr Anders G. J. Rhodin described the species in 1994.
Chelodina novaeguineae (Boulenger, 1888)
The Latinized specific name refers to being of New Guinea origin. This species
was described as Chelodina novae-guineae by Dr George Albert Boulenger
(1858-1937), a Belgian taxonomic herpetologist was educated at the University
of Brussels and briefly served as an assistant in the Museum of Natural
History in that city before accepting an appointment with the British Museum.
He was associated with the British Museum from 1882 until his retirement
in 1920, and became known as one of the world's leading authorities on reptiles
and amphibians.
Chelodina pritchardi (Rhodin, 1994)
This species was named in honour of Dr Peter C.H. Pritchard of the Chelonian Research Institute, an associate editor of Chelonian Conservation & Biology - International Journal of Turtle and Tortoise Research and the author of the Encyclopedia of Turtles and The Turtles of Venezuela books. Being named after a person, the gender of the species epithet overrules the gender of the genus and thus is masculine. The species was described by Dr Anders G. J. Rhodin in 1994.
Chelodina oblonga (Gray, 1841)
The specific name was derived from the Latin oblongum (long, longish,
oblong) and refers to the oblong shell. A part of the original description
states "Shell oblong rather than contracted in front, with a broad impression
on the middle of the back". (Gray, 1841) Its grammatical gender is
feminine. The species was described by Dr John Edward Gray (1800-1875),
an English naturalist who worked at the British Natural History Museum.
Gray described Chelodina oblonga based on the holotype which proved
to be the Northern Territory form of the long-neck turtle currently known
as Macrochelodina rugosa. (Thomson, 2001)
Chelodina reimanni (Philippen & Grossmann, 1990)
This species was named in honour of Dr Michael Reimann, a German herpetologist. Being named after a person, the gender of the species epithet overrules the gender of the genus and thus is masculine. The species was described by Dr Hans - Dieter Philippen and Dr Peter Grossmann in 1990.
Chelodina steindachneri (Siebenrock, 1914)
This species was named in honour of Dr Franz Steindachner (1834-1919), the
director of the Museum of Natural History in Vienna, an Austrian ichtiologist
and herpetologist who got four specimens of C. steindachneri from
Dr Paul Krefft (Siebenrock, 1914) and gave them to the famous Austrian naturalist
Dr Friedrich Siebenrock (1853-1925) who then described the species. Being
named after a person, the gender of the species epithet overrules the gender
of the genus and thus is masculine.
Literature cited
Boulenger, G. A. 1888. On the Chelydoid
chelonians of New Guinea. Annals Museo Civico di Storia Naturale de Genova.
(2)6:449-452.
Fitzinger, L. J. 1826. Neue Classification der Reptilien,
nach ihren Natürlichen Verwandtschaften nebst einer Verwandtschafts - Tafel.
Gray, J. E.1841. A catalogue of the species of reptiles
and amphibia hitherto described as inhabiting Australia, with a description
of some new species from Western Australia. Appendix E in Grey, G. 1841:422-449.
Gray, J. E. 1856. On some new species of freshwater tortoises
from North America, Ceylon and Australia, in the collection of the British
Museum. Proceedings of the Zoological society of London. 1855:197-202.
McCord W. and Thomson S. 2002. A new species of Chelodina
(Testudines: Pleurodira: Chelidae) from Northern Australia. Journal
of Herpetology 36(2):255-267.
Philippen, H.D. and Grossman, P. 1990. Eine neue Schlangenhalsschildkrote
von Neuguinea; Chelodina reimanni sp. n. (Reptilia, Testudines,
Pleurodira: Chelidae). Zool. Abh. Staat. Mus. Tierk. Dresden 46(5):95-102.
Shaw, G. 1794. Zoology of New Holland. Vol 1. Davis, London.
33pp.
Siebenrock, F. 1914. Eine neue Chelodina art aus
Westaustralien. Anz. Akad. Wiss. Wien Math.-natur. Kl.(1)17:386-387.
Thomson S. 2001. The identification of the holotype of
Chelodina oblonga (Testudines: Chelidae) with a discussion
of taxonomic implications. Chelonian Conservation and Biology. 3(4):745-748.