Which species : The Roti Island snake-necked turtle or the Madagascar big headed turtle ? (Poll)

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

I thought I'd try something a little different with these EDGE species polls considering that mammals and birds have now been covered and focus on a series of polls of the stranger EDGE reptiles before calling it a day with these threads.

First up are two curious and critically endangered chelonians: The Madagascar big headed turtle and the Roti Island snake necked turtle.

Both species are critically endangered due to overexploitation for their meat, illegal collection for the pet trade, habitat destruction and the destruction and fragmentation of their wetland habitats in Madagascar and Indonesia respectively.

Which of these reptile species interests you most / will you vote for ?

Please also feel free to write comments regarding why you made the choice and why the species you have voted for interests you more.

Thanks !

Look forward to seeing the results!


Photo credits to @Zooish and @Julio C Castro.

 

[Tim May]

Both of these chelonians are critically endangered but, interesting as the Roti Island snake-necked turtle undoubtedly is, my vote goes to the Madagascar big-headed turtle.

There are several different species of snake-necked turtle that belong in the same genus as the Roti Island turtle but the Madagascar big-headed turtle is the only surviving member of its genus; consequently it gets my vote for being the most evolutionary distinct.

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

Both of these chelonians are critically endangered but, interesting as the Roti Island snake-necked turtle undoubtedly is, my vote goes to the Madagascar big-headed turtle.

There are several different species of snake-necked turtle that belong in the same genus as the Roti Island turtle but the Madagascar big-headed turtle is the only surviving member of its genus; consequently it gets my vote for being the most evolutionary distinct.

Thank you for your comment and voting @Tim May ! Much appreciated!

Good choice and rationale too, the Madagascar big-headed turtle is indeed the more evolutionary distinct of these two species and is actually rated as having the highest EDGE score of any terrestrial vertebrate.

I find it a fascinating species but the reason why I voted for the snake-necked turtle instead of the big-headed turtle was more related to it being in a worse predicament conservation.

I'm not 100 % sure of this but the impression that I get is that the big-headed turtle seems to be in much safer hands with the Durrell Trust and their in-situ work in Madagascar than the snake-necked turtle in Indonesia.