Gray, 1870b
Chinese striped-necked turtles
Recognition
The genus Ocadia is represented by three living Southeast Asian species. The carapace is elliptical, slightly depressed to slightly domed, and generally widest behind the center, highest at the seam between the 2nd and 3rd vertebrals, and either slightly serrated or smooth posteriorly. Three low, discontinuous keels are present in juveniles, but these usually disappear with age. The hexagonal neurals are short sided anteriorly, and not elongated. Vertebral 4 lies over four neurals. The hingeless plastron is well-developed, sharply bent at the moderately long bridge, slightly upturned anteriorly, well-sutured to the carapace, and with strong buttresses. The axillary buttress is inserted into the carapace well up on the 1st costal, but is not attached to the 1st rib. Its matching inguinal buttress is inserted about half-way up the suture between the 5th and 6th costals. The entoplastron is crossed by the humero-pectoral seam. The head is relatively small. In the skull, the postorbital bone touches the supratemporal, but the maxilla does not touch the squamosal and is prevented from contacting the inferior process of the parietal by the palatine. The upper jaw is either medially notched or not, and its triturating surface is either ridged or not. The frontal bone is separated from the posterior shallow temporal emargination by parieto-postorbital contact. The pterygoid does not touch the articular surface of the quadrate, and the palatine artery is small, but the orbito-nasal foramen is large. In the lower jaw, the coronoid process is only moderately developed and the angular bone is shortened. The snout projects slightly. Smooth skin covers the dorsal surface of the head. The forelimbs are covered anteriorly with large scales. All toes are webbed, and the 5th anterior toe contains only two phalanges. The tail is long and tapered, even in adults.
Species identification
Jump to the key: Page 218: Genus Ocadia