NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Malaita snapping turtle
Elseya eidolon Joseph-Ouni, Mccord & Dwyer, 2022
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.
Open encyclopedia reference
Elseya eidolon, known commonly as the Malaita snapping turtle,is a species of chelid turtle which belongs to the subgenus Solomonemys of the genus Elseya. The species is endemic to Malaita Island in the Solomon Islands, where the holotype was collected in March 1995 in a wetland southeast of the locality of Malu'u. It is closely related to and was codiscovered with the Guadalcanal snapping turtle.
The existence of the species was known to western science for some time, but it was assumed to be an introduction of the Northern New Guinea snapping turtle.
Wikipedia contributors, Elseya eidolon; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T10:32:55.271662+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Elseya eidolon Joseph-Ouni, Mccord & Dwyer, 2022
- Name authority
- Joseph-Ouni, Mccord & Dwyer, 2022
- Common name
- Malaita 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 eidolon Joseph-Ouni, Mccord & Dwyer, 2022
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 |
| Northern Australian Snapping TurtleElseya dentata (Gray, 1863) | 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 |
| 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 |
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=eidolon 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:C6XCM. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.