Leith's softshell turtle

Leith's softshell turtle
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN 2.3)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Testudines
Suborder:	Cryptodira
Family:	Trionychidae
Genus:	Nilssonia
Species:	N. leithii
Binomial name
Nilssonia leithii (Gray, 1872)
Synonyms
Trionyx javanicus — Gray, 1831 (part) Testudo gotaghol Buchanan-Hamilton, 1831 (nomen nudum) Aspilus gataghol — Gray, 1872 Trionyx leithii Gray, 1872 Isola leithii — Gray, 1873 Aspideretes leithii — O.P. Hay, 1904 Trionyx sulcifrons Annandale, 1915 Trionyx leithi M.A. Smith, 1931 (ex errore) Amyda leithi — Mertens, L. Müller & Rust, 1934 Aspideretes leithi — Choudhury & Bhupathy, 1993 Trionys leithii — Obst, 1996 Trionix leithi — Richard, 1999

Leith's softshell turtle (Nilssonia leithii ) is a species of turtle found in peninsular Indian rivers including the Bhavani, Godavari, and Moyar Rivers. The type locality is Pune in India.

The specific name, leithii, is in honor of Andrew H. Leith, a physician with the Bombay Sanitary Commission.

Nilssonia leithii is intermediate between Nilssonia gangetica and Nilssonia hurum. It is like the former in the width of the interorbital apace, the comparatively short mandibular symphysis, and the markings of the head. It is like the latter in the longer and more pointed snout, the absence of a strong ridge on the inner alveolar surface of the mandible, and in the presence, in the young, of four or more dorsal ocelli, which are, however, smaller than in N. hurum.

Leith's softshell turtle is endemic to peninsular India in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Odisha

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