Indian Flapshell Turtle:
The scientists at the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) on a mission to save an Indian flapshell turtle, whose shell cracked after an accident.
- Indian flapshell Turtle is a freshwater species of turtle found in South Asia.
- The “flap-shelled” name stems from the presence of femoral flaps located on the plastron. These flaps of skin cover the limbs when they retract into the shell.
- It is morphologically an evolutionary link between the softshell and hardshell aquatic turtles.
- They live in the shallow, quiet, often stagnant waters of rivers, streams, marshes, ponds, lakes and irrigation canals, and tanks.
- These turtles prefer waters with sand or mud bottoms because of their tendency to burrow.
- They are mainly found in Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh (Indus and Ganges drainages) and Myanmar (Irrawaddy and Salween Rivers).
- Conservation status
- IUCN Red list: Vulnerable
- CITES: Appendix I
- Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule I
