Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 September 2020 | 12(13): 16909–16911

 

ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) 

doi: https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.6633.12.13.16909-16911

#6633 | Received 28 August 2020 | Final received 01 September 2020 | Finally accepted 04 September 2020

 

 

First record of the Assam Leaf Turtle Cyclemys gemeli (Fritz et al. 2008) (Reptilia: Testudines: Geoemydidae) from the Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya, India

 

Aditya Pradhan 1, Niran Chettri 2  & Saibal Sengupta 3

 

1Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, Regional Office Eastern Himalaya Northeast India, NH 10 Tadong, Gangtok, Sikkim 737102, India.
2 Division Office, Government Cinchona Plantation, Sittong, P.O. Shelpu, Darjeeling, West Bengal 734008, India.
3 St. Robert’s School, Dr. Yen Singh Road, Above Bishop’s House, Darjeeling, West Bengal 734101, India.
1aditya.pradhan@atree.org (corresponding author), 2niranchhetri0@gmail.com 3senguptasaibal9@gmail.com

 

 

 

Editor: Raju Vyas, Vadodara, Gujarat, India. Date of publication: 26 September 2020 (online & print)

 

Citation: Pradhan, A., N. Chettri & S. Sengupta (2020). First record of the Assam Leaf Turtle Cyclemys gemeli (Fritz et al. 2008) (Reptilia: Testudines: Geoemydidae) from the Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 12(13): 16909–16911. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.6633.12.13.16909-16911

 

Copyright: © Pradhan et al. 2020. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and distribution of this article in any medium by providing adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publication.

 

Funding: None.

 

Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

 

Acknowledgements: We thank Dr. Abhijit Das, Wildlife Institute of India, Uttarakhand, and Dr. Parimal Ray, Turtle Survival Alliance, Assam, for confirming the identity of the species, and Dr. Sarala Khaling, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, Regional Office the Eastern Himalayas-Northeast India, for facilitating it.

 

 

In India, 30 species of tortoises and turtles have been recorded so far, out of which the northeastern region has 22 species (Das & Gupta 2015), including Cyclemys gemeli.  This species, however, has never been reported to occur in the Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya, which comprise  the state of Sikkim, and the hilly regions of Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts of West Bengal, India, which is an integral part of the eastern Himalaya.  Historically, four species, namely, Melanochelys  tricarinata, M.  trijuga, Indotestudo elongata, and Lissemys punctata have been reported to occur here (Smith 1931), of which Indotestudo elongata and Lissemys punctata andersoni have been recorded in the present-day Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya (Jha 2009; Pradhan & Yonle 2019).
Cyclemys gemeli, commonly known as the Assam Leaf Turtle is protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 in India, but has not been assessed by IUCN.  It is currently listed in CITES under Appendix II.  It was first described from Assam, and is the only species to be reported in India under Cyclemys (Ahmed & Das 2010).  This species has been known to occur in Uttar Pradesh (near the Nepal border), northeastern India (Fritz et al. 2008), including Nepal (Rai 2004), Bangladesh (Kabir et al. 2009), and southeastern Bhutan (Wangyal et al. 2012).  This species prefers large rivers and its oxbows, fast flowing creeks, and leaf litter of evergreen forest (Praschag et al. 2009).

The current sighting of Cyclemys gemeli is the first record from the Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya.  The turtle was first sighted by the second author on 20 August 2020, crossing a motorable road approximately 230m from Riyang Khola (a perennial tributary of River Teesta), in the Government Cinchona Plantation, Sittong, Darjeeling, and was subsequently identified as Cyclemys gemeli.  It was based on the descriptions in Ahmed & Das (2010) and Fritz et al. (2008).  The photographs and video of the sighted individual were also sent to experts for  the confirmation of its identity.  The closest published locality record for this species is in Sershong, Sarpang District, Bhutan (Wangyal et al. 2012), about 210km from the current sighting area.  The sighting took place at around 11.30h (26.9480N & 88.3800E) in an area, currently under rubber cultivation at an elevation of 580m, and approximately 20m from the nearest non-perennial stream (Image 1).  The vegetation of the area is characterized by trees like Terminalia sp., Schima walichii, Ailanthus grandis, Cinchona officinalis, Ficus elastica, and ferns.

The sighted individual (Image 2) was a juvenile female, dark in color with prominent brown blotches on its carapace, while the plastral pattern was characterized by dark brown to black radiating lines.  The carapace was raised and slightly elongated, with a distinct vertebral keel and two lateral keels.  The digits were webbed, with fingernails.  Eleven pairs of marginal scutes were present.  The anal notch was wide and obtuse angled.  The crown of the head and the throat was uniform dark brown in color.  The individual weighed 450g.  Morphometric measurements of the individual were as follows: carapace length = 15.2cm; carapace width = 11.9cm; plastron length = 14.1cm.

The individual was later handed over to the West Bengal Forest Department, and is currently at Latpanchor Range Office.

For images - - click here

 

References

 

Ahmed, M.F. & A. Das (2010). Tortoises and turtles of northeast India: saving them from extinction! Survey, assessment of present status and conservation of tortoises and freshwater turtles in northeast India. Technical Report. Aaranyak, Guwahati, India, xiv+168pp.

Das, K.C. & A. Gupta (2015). New distribution records of tortoises (Chelonia: Testudinidae) from Barak Valley, Assam, northeastern India with notes on ecology and vernacular traditional taxonomy. Journal of Threatened Taxa 7(3): 7017–7023. https://doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o3623.7017-23

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