Manouria emys (Schlegel & S.Muller, 1844)

Figueroa, Alex, Low, Martyn E. Y. & Lim, Kelvin K. P., 2023, Singapore’s herpetofauna: updated and annotated checklist, history, conservation, and distribution, Zootaxa 5287 (1), pp. 1-378 : 250

Manouria emys (Schlegel & M̧ller, 1844)— Non-native; Introduced.

Asian Giant Tortoise

Singapore records.

Manouria fusca — Gray, 1854: 68.

Geochelone (Testudo) emys —K. Lim & F. Lim, 1989: 4 (Bukit Timah Nature Reserve).—L.M. Chou, 1995: 146.

Manouria emys —P.K.L. Ng et al., 1993: 20.—D.C.J. Yeo & C.S.W. Chia, 2010: 35.

Manouria emys phayrei —Pai & H.T.W. Tan, 2014: 188 (Nee Soon Swamp Forest).

Manouria emys emys —Stanford et al., 2015: 86.1.—TTWG, 2021: 252.

Remarks. Manouria emys occupies a wide, native distribution ranging from Bangladesh and India, east through Myanmar, Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, and Borneo (TTWG 2021). Given this distribution, it has been suspected that M. emys occurred naturally in Singapore, and is even listed as extirpated (Stanford et al. 2015; TTWG 2021). Gray (1854) mistakenly listed Singapore as the locality of a specimen collected in Penang ( Gray 1855). As no historical specimens exist for M. emys from Singapore, we exclude it from Singapore’s herpetofauna checklist. Nonetheless, released individuals have been sighted at BTNR on 5 January 1989 ( Lim 1989), NSSF in June 2002 (K.W. Li pers. comm.), 9 June 2011 (Y. Cai pers. comm.), and on 29 January 2014 (Pai & Tan 2014), and UP on 12 May 2014 (W. Ng pers. comm.).

LKCNHM & NHMUK Museum specimens. No specimens.

Additional Singapore museum specimens. No specimens.

Family Trionychidae Gray, 1825 (1 species)

Genus Lissemys Smith, 1931 (1 species)