Arrau turtle
Amazing fact
In the Arrau turtle, the temperature at which the eggs develop determines the sex of the young.
Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia
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An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
In the Arrau turtle, the temperature at which the eggs develop determines the sex of the young.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Arrau turtle
- Scientific name
- Podocnemis expansa
- Japanese name
- オオヨコクビガメ
- Group
- Amphibians and reptiles
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Testudines
- Family
- Podocnemididae
- Genus
- Podocnemis
A side-necked turtle that lives in South America, in countries such as Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela.
How the Arrau turtle lives
In the dry season, it travels along rivers to find places to lay eggs. Before nesting, females bask on sandy beaches in the morning and late afternoon. At night, females lay eggs in a hole dug high on the beach. Newly hatched young often stay in the nest until the rains begin.
Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da AmazôniaThe Dallas World AquariumBasic data
- Size
- Carapace length: 80 cm or more
- Range
- South America
Where the Arrau turtle has been recorded
Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF
Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.
Names around the world
- 日本語
- オオヨコクビガメ
- 简体中文
- 巨型侧颈龟
- 繁體中文
- 巨型側頸龜
- 한국어
- 아라우거북
- Español
- Charapa arrau
- Français
- Podocnémide élargie
- Deutsch
- Arrauschildkröte
- Português (Brasil)
- Tartaruga-da-amazônia
- Italiano
- Arrau
- العربية
- طفاشة متوسعة
- Русский
- Широкая щитоногая черепаха
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- 鳥羽水族館 — オオヨコクビガメChecked: 2026-11-04
- The Dallas World Aquarium — Arrau turtleChecked: 2026-11-07
- Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia — Podocnemis expansaChecked: 2026-11-07
We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.
The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.
The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
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