Hilaire's Side-necked Turtle

Fascinating facts about the Hilaire's Side-necked Turtle

• A 40 cm (16 in) straight-line carapace makes this turtle roughly the length of a school ruler, and it can weigh as much as 5 kg (11 lb).
• Females lay two clutches each year, one from February to May and another from September to December, producing between 9 and 14 eggs per clutch, with a record of 32 eggs in a single batch. Each egg incubates for about 150 days before hatching. This reproductive rhythm shows how the species spreads its chances across seasons, buffering against environmental swings.
• Although classified as omnivorous, the turtle shows a strong preference for tiny aquatic arthropods like copepods, ostracods, and hemipterans, while also taking fish, other reptiles, birds, small mammals, and carrion when available.
• It is found in southern Brazil’s Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, and stretches southward into Uruguay and Argentina, potentially reaching Paraguay and Bolivia, inhabiting streams, lakes, and swamps with abundant aquatic vegetation and soft bottoms.

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