.::::: Turtles of the World - Cheloniidae - Chelonia :::::.
Last update: 21 May, 2004

The genus Chelonia is here treated as monotypic, but some feel that the pacific specimens should be considered a seperate species Chelonia agassizii, or that the species listed below should be split into four subspecies (the nominat form, agassizii, carrinegra and japonica), as we consider this still to unclear we simply list the species all recognize as valid and awaits further studies on which if any of the other should be considered valid as seperate species or subspecies.

Chelonia Brogniart, 1800
(Type = Testudo mydas Linnaeus, 1758)
Chelonia mydas (Linnaeus, 1758)
Caretta cepedii Merrem, 1820
Caretta esculenta Merrem, 1820
Caretta thunbergi Merrem, 1820
Chelone viridis (Schneider, 1783)
Chelonia agassizii Bocourt, 1868
Chelonia bicarinata Lesson, 1834
Chelonia lachrymata Cuvier, 1829
Chelonia maculosa Cuvier, 1829
Chelonia marmorata Duméril & Bibron, 1835
Chelonia midas (Linnaeus, 1758)
Chelonia mydas agassizi Bocourt, 1868
Chelonia mydas carrinegra Caldwell, 1962
Chelonia mydas japonica (Thunberg, 1787)
Chelonia mydas mydas (Linnaeus, 1758)
Chelonia virgata Schweigger, 1812
Euchelus macropus Girard, 1858
Mydas viridis Gray, 1870
Natator tessellatus McCulloch, 1908
Testudo cepediana Daudin, 1802
Testudo japonica Thunberg, 1787
Testudo macropus Walbaum, 1782
Testudo marina vulgaris Lacépède, 1788
Testudo mydas Linnaeus, 1758
Testudo rugosa Daudin, 1802
Testudo viridis Schneider, 1783
Distribution (only countries with nesting): Australia, Brazil, Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Haiti, Japan, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Palau Islands, Saudi Arabia, St. Kitts, Turkey and USA.
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