Bellinger River Turtle

Open encyclopedia reference

The Bellinger River turtle (Myuchelys georgesi), or Bellinger River saw-shelled turtle, is a species of turtle in the family Chelidae. The species is of moderate size, with a straight-line carapace length to 240 mm (9.4 in) in females, and 185 mm (7.3 in) in males. It is endemic to Australia with a highly restricted distribution to the small coastal drainage of the Bellinger River in New South Wales.

In the past the species was considered locally abundant. The species' preferred habitat is the deeper pools of the clear-water upstream reaches of the river, where water flows continuously in most months over a bedrock basement and a stream bed of boulders, pebbles, and gravel. A captive breeding program has been under way since a 2015 virus outbreak came close to wiping out the entire species. Most remaining individuals are currently housed in quarantine, though a small number have been reintroduced to the original habitat.

Wikipedia contributors, Bellinger River snapping turtle; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T10:02:20.317361+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Myuchelys georgesi (Cann, 1997)

Name authority

(Cann, 1997)

Common name

Bellinger River Turtle

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Reptilia

Order

Testudines

Family

Chelidae

Genus

Myuchelys

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. genusMyuchelys
14. speciesMyuchelys georgesi (Cann, 1997)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Myuchelys. 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=Myuchelys&species=georgesi 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:45GT5. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.