Reptiles Magazine
December 9, 2020
The Gulf snapping turtle,
Elseya lavarackorum, so named in 1997, is actually a new species of turtle, and Elseya lavarackorum is probably extinct, scientists in Australia told ABC News Australia. The new turtle is named
Elseya oneiros.
“The fossil specimen Elseya lavarackorum can now be regarded as an extinct Pleistocene species, inhabiting rivers in the Gulf of Carpentaria less than 2.6 million years ago,” Queensland Museum herpetologist Patrick Couper said in a Queensland government blog post.
The reptile, which is found in northern Australia was initially thought to be
Elseya lavarackorum, but when American turtle researcher Mehdi Joseph-Ouni and Couper took a closer look, they found that the turtle formerly known as