White-throated Snapping Turtle

Open encyclopedia reference

Elseya albagula, commonly known as the white-throated snapping turtle, is one of the largest species of chelid turtles in the world, growing to about 45 cm (18 in) carapace length.

The species is endemic to south-eastern Queensland, Australia, in the Burnett, Mary, and Fitzroy River drainages. This species is entirely aquatic, rarely coming ashore and is chiefly herbivorous, feeding on the fruits and buds of riparian vegetation, algae, and large aquatic plants.

First proposed as a species by John Goode in the 1960s, it was finally described in 2006. The species is named from the Latin alba = white and gula = throat, which is a reference to the white blotching present on the throats of adult females in the species.

The type locality for the species is the Burnett River in south-eastern Queensland, but it is also found in the Mary and Fitzroy River drainages to the north of the Burnett. Some have argued for each of these rivers to represent different species, but DNA, morphological, and morphometric analyses does not support this conclusion.

Wikipedia contributors, Elseya albagula; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T12:16:08.954751+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Elseya albagula Thomson, Georges & Limpus, 2006

Name authority

Thomson, Georges & Limpus, 2006

Common name

White-throated Snapping Turtle

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Reptilia

Order

Testudines

Family

Chelidae

Genus

Elseya

Extinction status

Not supplied by this source

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
9. orderTestudines Batsch, 1788
10. suborderPleurodira Cope, 1864
11. superfamilyCheloidea Gray, 1825
12. familyChelidae
13. genusElseya
14. speciesElseya albagula Thomson, Georges & Limpus, 2006

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Elseya. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 54 records assigned to Chelidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Elseya&species=albagula Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:39CXX. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.