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Australian Wildlife

  Oblong Turtle (Chelodina oblonga)





Oblong Turtle | Chelodina oblonga photo
Oblong Turtle (Chelodina oblonga)

Image by Photograph by Gnangarra...commons.wikimedia.org - Some rights reserved.    (view image details)







OBLONG TURTLE FACTS

Description
The Oblong Turtle or Northern snake-necked turtle has an oblong carapace and long snake-like neck. Chelodina rugosa tends to hide under and between rocks and logs where possible or buries itself in the mud to act as an ambush predator to fish, amphibian, and invertebrate prey. Females can be easily recognized by the very short, stubby tail.

Other Names
Northern snake-necked turtle, Narrow-breasted Snake-necked Turtle, Long necked tortoise

Habitat
This species can be found not only in fresh water, but due to the proximity of the south New Guinea coast and close off shore islands, it also can be found in brackish water

Food
fish, tadpoles, hatchling turtles, worms, insects

Range
It is native to northern Australia and southern New Guinea.

distribution map showing range of Chelodina oblonga in Australia

Credits:
Map is from Atlas of Living Australia website at https://biocache.ala.org.au licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.



Classification
Class:Reptilia
Order:Testudines
Family:Chelidae
Genus:Chelodina
Species:oblonga
Common Name:Oblong Turtle

Relatives in same Genus
  Eastern Snake-necked Turtle (C. longicollis)
  New Guinea Snake-necked Turtle (C. novaeguineae)