Pig-nosed Turtle

Facts about Pig-nosed turtle. "Scientific name for Pig-nosed turtle is Carettochelys insculpta". Pig-nosed turtle is a Carettochelys type of turtle that belongs to the Carettochelyidae family. The Pig-nosed turtles hail from southern New Guinea and northern Australia, and they are also called as the Fly River turtle or pitted-shelled turtle. The Pig-nosed turtle is the only existing member of the Carettochelyidae family. These turtles mostly live in freshwater streams, ponds and rivers of the northern area of Australia, in addition to to the island of New Guinea, where it is supposed to arise in all the bigger, and a few smaller, southward-running rivers. The Pig-nosed Turtle attains its name because its nose looks like that of a pig.

Features of Pig-nosed turtle

An adult Pig-nosed Turtle can attain a maximum shell length of 28 inches (71 cm), with a body weight of more than 44 pounds (19.9 kg). Pig-nosed Turtle is different from other varieties of freshwater turtle. The feet of these turtles are flippers, looking like that of sea turtles. The Pig-nosed turtle have a fleshy nose, with wide nostrils at the end of their snout. The carapace is usually olive or grey in color, with a rubbery texture, whereas its plastron is cream in color. A male Pig-nosed Turtle can be easily distinguished from the female turtle by their narrower and longer tails. The Pig-nosed Turtle retains an arched bony carapace under their rubbery skin, rather than a level plate. The Pig-nosed turtles also hold a solid plastron, attached to the carapace by a sturdy bony bridge.

Diet of Pig-nosed turtle

The Pig-nosed Turtle is omnivorous, and in the wild, it mostly feeds on an extensive variety of animal matter and plant, as well as the leaves of figs and fruit. Sometimes, they also feed on mollusks, crustaceans and insects. In the captive, the Pig-nosed turtles are fed with a variety of vegetables and fruits.

Behavior of Pig-nosed turtle

The Pig-nosed Turtle are not entirely aquatic turtles. These turtles are inclined to be shy and prone to pressure. Though little is recognized regarding the general behavior of the Pig-nosed turtles, they are considered extremely aggressive, and they will assault each other. In the captivity, the Pig-nosed turtles are more territorial than most other tortoises and turtles. They seem to exhibit a level of social organization in the cooler arid season about the hydrothermal expels that line a few river systems they live in.

Breeding of Pig-nosed turtle

Usually, a Pig-nosed Turtle attains the sexual maturity after more than 18 years of their birth, whereas the males attain the sexual maturity about 16 years. The female Pig-nosed turtle lays its eggs late in the arid season on grimy river banks. When the broods are fully grown, they will continue inside the eggs during hibernation, pending conditions are appropriate for coming out. Hatching may be activated while the eggs have been swamped with water or by an abrupt fall in air pressure, indicating a future storm. Using ecological triggers, together with vibrations formed by other hatching Pig-nosed turtles in the identical clutch, offers a better chance for endurance. Using a common trigger rather than just waiting for incubation to end denotes that they hatch all at once. This offers protection in numbers, as well as, the additional turtles that hatch, the more support they have to excavate throughout the sand to the surface.

Though the average lifespan of the Pig-nosed Turtle in the wild is 25 years, in the captive, they live up to 38 years.