NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Northern Australian Snapping Turtle
Elseya dentata (Gray, 1863)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Elseya (Elseya) dentata from a private collection.
Hiroki Shibata · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
Elseya dentata (Gray, 1863), the northern snapping turtle, is a large aquatic turtle found throughout many rivers in northern Western Australia and the Northern Territory. It is one of three species in the nominate subgenus Elseya.
Wikipedia contributors, Elseya dentata; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T13:15:01.134525+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Elseya dentata (Gray, 1863)
- Name authority
- (Gray, 1863)
- Common name
- Northern Australian 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.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
- orderTestudines Batsch, 1788
- suborderPleurodira Cope, 1864
- superfamilyCheloidea Gray, 1825
- familyChelidae
- genusElseya
- speciesElseya dentata (Gray, 1863)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Elseya. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| New Guinea Snapping TurtleElseya branderhorsti (Ouwens, 1914) | ChelidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Irwin's TurtleElseya irwini Cann, 1997 | ChelidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Western New Guinea Stream TurtleElseya novaeguineae (Meyer, 1874) | ChelidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Guadalcanal snapping turtleElseya auramemoria Joseph-Ouni, Mccord & Dwyer, 2022 | ChelidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Malaita snapping turtleElseya eidolon Joseph-Ouni, Mccord & Dwyer, 2022 | ChelidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Elseya kalumburu Joseph-Ouni, Mccord & Cann, 2022 | ChelidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Nabire snapping turtleElseya nabire Joseph-Ouni & Mccord, 2022 | ChelidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Merauke snapping turtleElseya papua Joseph-Ouni & Mccord, 2022 | ChelidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| White-throated Snapping TurtleElseya albagula Thomson, Georges & Limpus, 2006 | ChelidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Yellow-bellied Snapping TurtleElseya flaviventralis Thomson & Georges, 2016 | ChelidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Gulf Snapping TurtleElseya lavarackorum (White & Archer, 1994) | ChelidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Northern New Guinea Stream TurtleElseya schultzei (Vogt, 1911) | ChelidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Chelymys elseyi Gray, 1864 Gray, 1864 | synonym |
| Chelymys dentata Gray, 1863 Gray, 1863 | synonym |
| Chelymys elseya Gray, 1870 Gray, 1870 | synonym |
| Elseya intermedia Gray, 1872 Gray, 1872 | synonym |
| Elseya flaviventralis Georges et al., 2000 Georges et al., 2000 | ambiguous synonym |
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.
- https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Elseya&species=dentata 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.
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:39CY2. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.