Matiaska J., 2005. The history of the Murray River Turtle - Emydura macquarii macquarii (Testudines:Chelidae).

Abstract: Emydura macquarii macquarii was the first Australasian short-neck chelid which was described. In fact, it was described several times by different authors and reclassified on a few occasions. Even though it is one of the best known Australian fresh-water turtles, little is known about its past. The purpose of this manuscript is to shed some light on the species' history.

Keywords: Emydura macquarii, Chelidae, short-necked turtle, history, holotype, Macquarie River, Testudines

Holotype data: Emydura macquarii macquarii (Gray, 1830 [1831*]), M. N. H. P. 9409 from Australia: subsequently corrected to Macquarie River, NSW. *published

Discovery  

     The holotype specimen was collected by René-Primevere Lesson (1794-1849), a French naturalist and Prosper Garnot (1794-1838), the French navy assistant surgeon, both of whom were aboard of La Coquille, a ship used for the expedition led by Louis Isidore Duperrey (1786 - 1865), a physicist and naval officer. The expedition lasted from 1822 to 1825 and was meant to explore parts of the Pacific and South America. In 1824, the expedition visited Sydney, Australia (17th January - 25th March 1824).

The first Lesson's (1826-1830) 'Chelid reference' does not mention any short-necked species (translated from French):

The rivers Campbell, Macquarie and Fish, have a type of turtle, flat and black, that Shaw has described as Emys longicollis. This Emyde swims slowly and after, rests on some bulky objects above the water on these little rivers, and instead of entering their heads in the natural hiding places they turn it on their side with a lateral movement of their vertebras.

Cann (1998) thinks that Lesson was unaware of the differences between the two species (Chelodina longicollis and Emydura macquarii) or more likely neglected to mention it. Two years later, Lesson mentioned a species which was not described yet.

     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 specific epithet of the species refers to the turtle's type location: the Macquarie River (Bour, 2005, pers. comm.)

     In 1829, Frenchman Jean Léopold Chrétien Nicolas Frédéric Dagobert alias Georges, Baron Cuvier (1769-1832) was the first one to name the species Em(ys) macquarii. However, he did not provide any description, and the name must be considered as being a nomen nudum.

The first valid description was written by John Edward Gray in 1830 and was published in 1831, after a visit at the French Natural History Museum, in Paris. J. E. Gray (1800-1875) was an English naturalist who worked at the British Natural History Museum in London until his death. He described the species as Hydraspis macquarii (1831a). Cann (1998) speculates Gray took the name from the tag which was then attached to the holotype specimen. Today, all that is written on the tag is MNHN 9409, a registration number given much later (Bour, 2005, pers. comm.) so apparently the original tag was replaced. Gray's description included the statement of the type locality, i.e. the Macquarie River.

Gray's description (1831a):

     Macquary's Chelys. Ch. (Hydraspis)
     Macquarii. Emys Macquarii. Cuv. R. A. [R.A. means Le Regne
     Animal]

     Shell oval, depressed, contracted in front, behind
     subdentate, dark olive; shields rugulose; dorsal link sunk;
     nuchal plate narrow. New Holland.

Gray's (1831b) description is a bit longer, and included measurements:

     3. Hydraspis Macquarii, (New Holland Hydraspis.) Testa
     ovata depressa antice contracta postice expansa
     dentata olivaceo-fusca, linea dorsali impressa,
     scutellis rugulosis, nuchali angusto, sterno lutescente.
     Emys Macquarii, Cuv. MSS. R. A. ii. 11 note. (v. t.
     Mus. Par.)
     Habit. In Novâ Hollandiâ, Macquarrie River.
     The hinder marginal plates are nicked in the middle of
     their edge. Length 11, breadth 8 inches.

Both descriptions were actually written in 1830, after Gray's visit to the Paris Museum, and a controversy still exists about the priority of publication. Most works recognize 1831b as being the original description. Fortunately, both refer to the same specimen, with the same author, the main difference being the original combination, Chelys (Hydraspis) macquarii or Hydraspis macquarii. (Bour, 2005, pers. comm.)

In 1835, Dumeril and Bibron (1835) changed the generic name, coining Platemys macquarii. In the following year, Charles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte (1803-1857), who devoted himself to the study of natural science and particularly of ornithology, erected a new genus Emydura for which type species was Emys macquaria (Cuvier, 1829) by monotypy. (Bonaparte, 1836). In fact, Bonaparte was the first one to use the binomial name Emydura macquarii. In 1844, Gray himself reclassified the species to Chelymys macquaria as he used Hydraspis macquaria, described by him in 1831, as the type for the newly erected genus Chelymys (Gray, 1844). However, the usage of Emydura macquarii prevailed thorough the most of the species' history since it was described, according to the rule of priority. In 1985, Wells and Wellington erroneously placed the species back in the Chelymys genus (Gray, 1844) with the type Chelymys macquarii as they thought of the Emydura (Bonaparte, 1836) genus name to be a nomen nudum. The availability of the genus Emydura (and its type species) has been clarified by Stimson (1986) and Iverson, Thomson and Georges (2001) and the usage of Emydura macquarii was reestablished.

     As mentioned above, 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). Bour confirmed the location when he wrote to Cann "I believe we can confidently admit the Type Hydraspis Macquarii was collected by Lesson in Winter (French time) of 1824 in the Upper Macquarie River, in the vicinity of Bathurst [NSW]" (Cann, 1998). 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.) On the other hand, Duméril and Bibron never stated the source. 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)

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