Albino Indian Flapshell Turtle

Published: 27th Dec, 2021

Context

Recently, Mountaineers in Telangana have encountered a rarely found species of Albino Indian Flapshell Turtles.

About

Albino Indian Flapshell Turtle

Albino Indian Flapshell Turtles is an Indian flapshell turtle that has been discovered several times in various parts of South Asia.
The different colour of the turtle may be due to albinism – a genetic disorder that causes a complete lack of pigments in the body, or a congenital disorder that is characterized by a complete or partial absence of tyrosine pigment.

About Indian Flapshell Turtle

Indian flapshell turtle (Lissemys punctata) 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.

They are found in Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh (Indus and Ganges drainages), and Myanmar (Irrawaddy and Salween Rivers).
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 also well adapted to drought conditions.
They are known to be omnivorous.

Its diet consists of frogs, shrimp, snails, aquatic vegetation, plant leaves, flowers, fruits, grasses and seeds.

Indian flapshell turtles come under the Vulnerable category IUCN Status.

International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)

IUCN was founded in October 1948 as the International Union for the Protection of Nature (or IUPN) following an international conference in Fontainebleau, France.
The organization changed its name to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources in 1956 with the acronym IUCN (or UICN).
IUCN is a membership union uniquely composed of both government and civil society organisations.
IUCN Created in 1948, it is the global authority on the status of the natural world and the measures needed to safeguard it.
Its headquarter is in Gland, Switzerland.
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of plant and animal species.

It uses a set of quantitative criteria to evaluate the extinction risk of species. These criteria are relevant to most species and all regions of the world.
The IUCN Red List Categories define the extinction risk of species assessed.

Nine categories extend from NE (Not Evaluated) to EX (Extinct). Critically Endangered (CR), Endangered (EN) and Vulnerable (VU) species are considered to be threatened with extinction.

It is recognized as the most authoritative guide to the status of biological diversity.
It is also a key indicator for the SDGs and Aichi Targets.

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