Pig-nosed turtle

A turtle unique in the world

The pig-nosed turtle - Carettochelys insculpta - is a unique freshwater species: its legs are transformed into flippers like sea turtles, and its nose resembles a pig's snout! It is found in New Guinea, northern Australia and Indonesia (Irian Jaya). The only member of its family, this turtle could be the evolutionary link between marine and freshwater species.

Diet

Omnivorous, but its favorite food seems to be the leaves and fruit of an Australian fig tree.

Surprising reproduction and behavior

These are exclusively aquatic turtles, and only the females leave the water to lay their eggs in the sand: they seem to communicate with each other in order to find the best banks to build their nests. Exceptionally, at the end of incubation, the young ready to emerge can wait up to 50 days before piercing the shell of their egg! It's the sudden drop in atmospheric pressure, indicating the arrival of heavy rains and the overflowing of rivers onto the banks, that gives the hatchlings the information that they can emerge from the egg... underwater! All the young from different nests hatch at the same time, making it easier for them to get out of the sand and survive the predators that await them (marine or freshwater crocodiles). Nests are also sometimes destroyed by Asian buffaloes introduced into Australia, who trample the banks when they go to drink, or by various varans or wild pigs who sniff out the eggs before digging them up and eating them!

Threats and conservation

Nest destruction is the main cause of the species' disappearance in Australia, while in Indonesia, it is the international trade in small turtles that threatens the species. It is also consumed locally by certain tribes in Papua...

Click here to discover and visit the A Cupulatta turtle park near Ajaccio.