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| approximate
range |
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Original
Description |
Fitzinger 1826 : 5 |
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Original name |
Trionychoidea |
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Common
name |
Softshell Turtles |
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Distribution |
North America, Africa, southern and eastern Asia, and the East Indies to New Guinea |
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Comments |
Smith and Smith (1979) discuss the taxonomic history of the group. Loveridge and Williams (1957) reviewed the African species; and Webb (1962) reviewed the North American species. Meylan (1984, 1987) reviewed the taxonomy and phylogeny of the entire family, resurrecting many older generic names (especially from the synonymy of the genus Trionyx); his classification is followed here despite the disagreement by Kizirian and Webb (1990) and Webb (1990b). Karyotype variation is discussed in Bickham et al. (1983). See also Comment under Carettochelyidae. |
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