Asiatic softshell turtle
species of reptile
The Asiatic softshell turtle or black-rayed softshell turtle (Amyda cartilaginea) is a species of softshell turtle in the Trionychidae family. Despite its name, it is not the only softshell turtle in Asia (most trionychines are Asian).
Taxonomy
Formerly considered the only extant species within Amyda, a 2014 study found deep genetic divergence within this species and supported splitting it into three distinct species: A. cartilaginea sensu stricto, A. ornata (the Southeast Asian softshell turtle), and an undescribed species from Borneo. Both Amyda cartilaginea and Amyda ornata branch into further subspecies, while Amyda (unnamed) is a terminal clade in itself. Amyda cartilagineas subspecies are: Amyda cartilaginea cartilaginea (located in E. Sunde, E. Borneo, Java, and Sulawesi) and Amyda cartilaginea maculosa (found in Sumatra and West Borneo).
As for any marked different physical characteristics, Amyda cartilaginea cartilaginea exhibits the typical markings and overall look as the originally recognized species of Amyda cartilaginea, and has "an abundance of yellow spots over the body, yellow-rimmed black ocelli on the carapace, black reticulation on a yellow-olive-brown ground color at the crown of the head". The unconfirmed candidate species, Amyda (unnamed), exhibits a "Saddle-blotched colouration"; the turtles in this clade all exhibit "a very similar dark carapacial mark".
Geographic range
Amyda cartilaginea is found in Brunei, Indonesia (Bali, Java, Sumatra, and Kalimantan), Malaysia (Sabah, Sarawak), Singapore, and southern Thailand. It ranges from the Thai portion of the Malay Peninsula south throughout Island Southeast Asia. Populations in the Lesser Sundas, Moluccas, and Sulawesi are thought to be introduced or traded individuals.
“Asiatic softshell turtle” enters the record as species of reptile. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Asiatic, softshell and turtle can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 27, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1945329. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2014.
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This entry incorporates text from “Asiatic softshell turtle” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.