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.
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