Indian Flapshell Turtle

Fascinating facts about the Indian Flapshell Turtle

• A carapace that’s up to 86% as wide as it is long makes the Indian flapshell turtle look almost as broad as a dinner plate, its shell can reach 370 mm (14.6 in) in length, while males top out near 23 cm (9 in) and females can grow to about 35 cm (14 in).
• When the dry season hits, these turtles can burrow and seal their limbs under skin flaps, then enter estivation for as long as 160 days, essentially pausing life until water returns.
• A single mating pair can stay locked together for up to 15 minutes, with the female sometimes dragging the male around before they finally part.
• Their diet is a smorgasbord of pond life, frogs, shrimp, snails and even fruit and seeds, so they help keep aquatic ecosystems cleaner by munching on both pests and dead matter.
• First listed on CITES Appendix I in 1975, the species was downgraded to Appendix II in 1995.

At a glance

About the Indian Flapshell Turtle

The Indian flapshell turtle, Lissemys punctata, carries a distinctive armor of a broadly oval carapace that stretches 240 to 370 mm in length, its width a sleek 77–86 % of that span. A smooth, slightly flared margin frames a moderately arched shell whose height reaches 35.0–40.5 % of its length, while the large, cartilaginous plastron bears a pair of expansive femoral flaps that can seal over the hind limbs and a smaller flap over the tail. Seven plastral callosities punctuate the underside, and the head, wide as 21–25 % of the carapace, sports a short, stout nose and heavy claws. Adults range from a 23 cm male to a 35 cm female, and the turtle’s omnivorous palate sweeps frogs, shrimp, snails, aquatic plants, fruits, and seeds from the quiet, often stagnant waters of rivers, marshes, ponds, irrigation canals, and desert ponds of Rajasthan. Its burrowing habit and ability to estivate for up to 160 days enable it to survive harsh droughts, the femoral flaps sealing moisture as the turtle retreats into the mud. A surprising ritual unfolds during courtship: the male strokes the female’s carapace, the pair bob their heads three or four times, and they remain locked in a reverse-facing embrace for as long as fifteen minutes before copulation concludes, a dance that propels the species through the monsoon-laden months of June to November.

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