The complete etymology of the Emydura genus (Pleurodira:Chelidae)
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Chelodina Elseya Elusor Emydura Macrochelodina Pseudemydura Rheodytes |
Emydura (Bonaparte, 1836)
The generic name Emydura was derived from the Greek emys
(freshwater turtle) and the Greek oura (tail), Latinized to ura.
Its grammatical gender is feminine. The type species was Emys macquaria
(Cuvier, 1829) by monotypy. (Bonaparte, 1836) The genus name Emydura
was erected by Charles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte (1803-1857) in 1836.
Bonaparte devoted himself to the study of natural science and particularly
of ornithology.
Emydura australis (Gray, 1841)
The specific epithet means the species originates in the south (Latin: australis)
the Southern Hemisphere in relation to Dr John Edward Gray's location (England
- the Northern Hemisphere). (Thomson, 2005, pers. comm.)
Emydura macquarii krefftii (Gray, 1871)
This species was named in honour of Gerard Johann Ludwig Krefft (1830-1881),
a German who moved to Australia in 1852 to work as a miner for five years
before moving to Melbourne where he was employed as a collector and artist
at the National Museum of Victoria. In 1861, he became director of the Australian
Museum, Sydney. Being named after a person, the gender of the species epithet
overrules the gender of the genus and thus is masculine. The species was
originally described as Chelylys krefftii by Dr John Edward Gray
in 1871. (Cann, 1998)
Emydura macquarii emmotti (Cann, et al,
2003)
The sub-specific name was derived from the last name of Angus Emmott - a grazier and well-regarded natural historian from Noonbah on the Thomson River. Mr. Emmott is the chair of the Community Advisory Committee to support Whole-of-basin management of Lake Eyre basin. 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 Dr William P. McCord, John Cann, and Mehdi Joseph-Ouni in 2003.
Emydura macquarii macquarii (Gray, 1831)
The specific epithet of the species refers to the turtle's type location:
the Macquarie River (Bour, 2005, pers. comm.) although according to Cann
(1998) there is a slight chance it was named in honour of Governor Lachlan
Macquarie (1762-1824). Just to make sure, I discussed the issue with Dr.
Bour and he confirmed the relation to the river and not the governor: "I
am quite sure that the name of E. macquarii comes from the river.
Duméril & Bibron (1835: 440) clearly wrote that the type was caught in the
Macquarie River. Documents that I read after John Cann's enquiries never
alluded to the Governor Macquarie, but to the river." (Bour, 2005, pers.
comm.) Nevertheless, even though the species was named after the Macquarie
River, the Governor also "deserves" a bit of credit as the river itself
was named after him by George William Evans (1778-1852), the Deputy-Surveyor
of Lands, who discovered the river in 1813. (Favenc, 1888)
Emydura macquarii nigra (McCord, et al,
2003)
The sub-specific name was derived from the Latin nigrum (black
or of dark colour) and refers to the black carapace and skin. It is of feminine
grammatical gender. The species was described by Dr William P. McCord, John
Cann, and Mehdi Joseph-Ouni in 2003.
Emydura subglobosa subglobosa (Krefft, 1876)
The specific name was derived from the Latin sub (underneath, under,
close under) and globosus (spherical) and refers to the shape of
the carapace: "The shell is much elevated above the centre and as the
sternum is also bulged out in a corresponding manner, the form becomes subglobular."
(Krefft, 1876) It is of feminine grammatical gender. The species was originally
described as Euchelymys subglobosa by Gerard Krefft (1830-1881)
in 1876. The subspecies name, which equals the species name, was added to
define the nominate species.
Emydura subglobosa worrelli (Wells and Wellington,
1985)
This subspecies was named in honour of Eric Worrell (1924-1987), the famous
Australian naturalist and herpetologist, the founder of the Central Coast
icon, the Australian Reptile Park as well as the Ocean Beach Aquarium. Worrell
greatly contributed to the development of vital snake antivenene. Being
named after a person, the gender of the species epithet overrules the gender
of the genus and thus is masculine. The species was originally described
as Tropicochelymys worrelli by Wells and Wellington in 1985.
Emydura tanybaraga (Cann, 1997)
Tanybaraga is the name given to the adult yellow-faced turtle in
the Daly River by the Ngangi Kurunggurr group at the Daly River. The species
name is to be used as a noun in apposition. This is pronounced tanybar-arrga.
(Cann, 1998) its grammatical gender is feminine. The species was described
by John Cann in 1997.
Emydura victoriae (Gray, 1842)
The specific name refers to the Victoria river in Northern Territory. Its
grammatical gender is feminine. The species was originally described as
Hydraspis victoriae by Dr J. E. Gray in 1841. (Gray, 1842) Hydraspis
was an invalid generic name erected by Bell (1828) which was to include
all side-neck turtles.
Literature cited
Bonaparte, C. L. 1836. Cheloniorum Tabula Analytica. N.
p., Rome pp. 1-9.
Bour, R. 2005. Personal communication with the author.
Cann, J. 1997. The northern yellow-faced turtle. Monitor
9(1):24-29, 34-35.
Cann, J. 1998. Australian Freshwater Turtles. Beumont Publishing,
Singapore.
Cann, J., McCord, W. and Joseph-Uoni, 2003. M. Emmott's
short-neck turtle, Emydura macquarii emmotti ssp. nov. Reptilia
27: 60-61.
Favenc, E. 1888. The History of Australian Exploration
from 1788 to 1888, Complied from State Documents, Private Papers and the
most authentic sources of information. Issued under the auspices of the
Government of the Australian Colonies., Part I, Chapter 2, Sydney: Turner
Henderson, 1888.
Gray, J.E. 1831. A synopsis of the species of the class
Reptilia. pp 1-110 in Griffith, Edward and Pidgeon, Edward (Eds). A Classified
Index and Synopsis of the Animal Kingdom Arranged in Conformity with its
Organisation, by the Baron Cuvier, with Supplementary Additions to each
order. Vol. 9 (1831) [1830]. The Class Reptilia. London: Whitaker, Suppl.,
pp. 110.
Gray, J.E. 1841. Description of some hitherto unrecorded
species of Australian reptiles and batrachians. pp 51-57. in Gray, J.E.
Zoological Miscellaney. London: Treutal, Wurtz and Co.
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. 1871. Notes on Australian freshwater tortoises.
Annals and Magazine of Natural History (4)8:366.
Krefft, G. 1876. Notes on Australian animals in New Guinea
with description of a new freshwater tortoise belonging to the genus Euchelymys.
Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale de Genova. 1:390-394.
McCord, W., Cann, J. and Joseph-Uoni, 2003. M. Fraser Island
short-neck turtle, Emydura macquarii nigra ssp. nov. Reptilia 27:
62-63.
Thomson, S. A. 2005. Personal communication with the author.
Wells, R. W. and Wellington, C. R. 1985. A classification
of the amphibia and reptilia of Australia. Australian Journal of Herpetology,
Supplementary Series. 1:1-61.