NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Narrow-breasted Snake-necked Turtle
Chelodina oblonga Gray, 1841
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.
Chelodina oblonga photographed in Perth, Western Australia.
Sevenstxrsquid · CC BY 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The oblong turtle (Chelodina oblonga), also known commonly as the narrow-breasted snake-necked turtle, southwestern snake-necked turtle, (western) long-neck(ed) turtle, and as yaakan or booyi in Noongar language, is a species of turtle in the family Chelidae. The species is endemic to the southwestern part of Western Australia. The species has been successfully bred in captivity in Cologne Zoological Garden and was once largely bred in captivity for the pet trade in Western Australia. with its lifespan well exceeding 40 years, with some reports indicating they may live for up to twice that long. While all turtles were once believed to be mute, a 2009 study found the reptile to have an acoustic repertoire of 12 unique vocalisations. Not only did this discovery lead to other related turtle species being disproven to be mute, it clearly indicates that C. oblonga is a socially interactive species, with a unique life cycle of no parental care during the incubation phase, no parental care in the nest to water phase, but a socially interactive and communal lifestyle as it develops.
Wikipedia contributors, Oblong turtle; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T12:26:08.959597+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Chelodina oblonga Gray, 1841
- Name authority
- Gray, 1841
- Common name
- Narrow-breasted Snake-necked Turtle
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Testudines
- Family
- Chelidae
- Genus
- Chelodina
- 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
- genusChelodina
- speciesChelodina oblonga Gray, 1841
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Chelodina. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Pritchard's Snakeneck TurtleChelodina pritchardi Rhodin, 1994 | ChelidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Arnhem Land Long-Necked turtleChelodina burrungandjii Thomson, Kennett & Georges, 2000 | ChelidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Cann's Snake-necked TurtleChelodina canni Mccord & Thomson, 2002 | ChelidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Giant Snake-necked TurtleChelodina expansa Gray, 1857 | ChelidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Dinner-plate TurtleChelodina steindachneri Siebenrock, 1914 | ChelidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Kimberley Snake-necked Turtle [walloyarrina]Chelodina kuchlingi Cann, 1997 | ChelidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Common Snake-necked TurtleChelodina longicollis (Shaw, 1794) | ChelidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Reimann's Snakeneck TurtleChelodina reimanni Philippen & Grossmann, 1990 | ChelidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Parker’s Snake-necked TurtleChelodina parkeri Rhodin & Mittermeier, 1976 | ChelidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| McCord's Snakeneck TurtleChelodina mccordi Rhodin, 1994 | 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 |
|---|---|
| Chelodina colliei Gray, 1856 Gray, 1856 | 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=Chelodina&species=oblonga 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:69R9S. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.