Heosemys spinosa (Gray, 1831)

Figueroa, Alex, Low, Martyn E. Y. & Lim, Kelvin K. P., 2023, Singapore’s herpetofauna: updated and annotated checklist, history, conservation, and distribution, Zootaxa 5287 (1), pp. 1-378 : 78-79

Heosemys spinosa (Gray, 1831) — Native.

Emys spinosae Gray, 1830 [in 1830–1832]: pl. 77, figs. 1, 2, caption. Syntypes (2): BMNH 1862.8 .28.1 (specimen “c” in Boulenger [1889: 138]), according to Bourret (1941: 159), and OUM 8517 , according to Nowak-Kemp & Fritz (2010: 12). Type locality: “ Penang ”, Peninsular Malaysia.

Spiny Terrapin

( Figure 9E ; Rifle Range Forest)

Singapore records.

Geoemyda spinosa — Gray, 1855: 16–17.— Ģnther, 1864: 10.— Gray, 1873: 25.— Boulenger, 1889a: 137.— Flower, 1896: 859 (Bukit Timah [BTNR]).— Hanitsch, 1898: 9.— Flower, 1899: 614.— Ridley, 1899: 185, 205 (Bukit Timah [BTNR]).—Hanitsch, 1908: 39.— Boulenger, 1912: 17.— Hanitsch, 1912b: 14.— de Rooij, 1915: 300–301.—D.H. Murphy, 1973: 59.—K. Lim & F. Lim, 1988c: 77 (Sime Road Forest).

Geodyma [sic] spinosa —F.L.K. Lim, 1984: 18.

Heosemys (Geoemyda) spinosa —K. Lim, 1989e: 39 (Upper Peirce Reservoir).

Heosemys spinosa —K. Lim, 1989h: 65 (Sime Road Forest).—K.K.P. Lim & L.M. Chou, 1990: 56.—K.K.P. Lim & Subharaj, 1991: 5 (Upper Peirce Reservoir Park).—K.K.P. Lim & F.L.K. Lim, 1992: 127, 151.—K.K.P. Lim & Subharaj, 1992: 9 (MacRitchie Reservoir; Rifle Range Road).—Wee, 1992: 74 (Lower Peirce Reservoir Park).—E.K. Chua, 1993: 25 (Bukit Timah Nature Reserve).—L.M. Chou et al., 1994: 105.—K.K.P. Lim & Subaraj, 1994: 5 (Rifle Range Road).—R. Subaraj, 1994: 12 (Rifle Range Road Pipeline; Sime Road Forest; Thomson Ridge Trail [TRF]; Upper Peirce West Forest).—K.K.P. Lim, 1994b: 225, 231.—L.M. Chou, 1995: 146.—K. Lim, 1995: 18 (Gangsa Track [GF]; MacRitchie Nature Trail [TRF]; Nee Soon Swamp Forest; Seletar North Peninsula [USNF]; Ulu Sembawang Forest).—K.K.P. Lim, 1996: 50.— Metcalfe, 1996: 106.—R.C.H. Teo & Rajathurai, 1997: 392 (Bukit Timah [BTNR]; Lower Peirce [LPF]; MacRitchie; Mandai; Nee Soon [NSSF]; Upper Seletar).— Manthey & Grossmann, 1997: 448.—Chan-ard et al., 1999: 40.— B.L. Lim & Das, 1999: 73.—van Dijk, 2000: 21.—Iskandar, 2000: 115.— Malkmus et al., 2002: 398.—T.M. Leong, 2005b: 44.— Auliya, 2007: 54–55.—Ramsay et al., 2007: 165.—K.K.P. Lim et al., 2008: 174, 266.—N. Baker & K.P. Lim, 2008: 123, 159.—P.K.A. Ng, 2009: 18, 21, 26.— Das, 2010: 171.—T.H. Ng & K.K.P. Lim, 2010: 119.—T.M. Leong & Gan, 2011: 26.—P.K.L. Ng et al., 2011: 479.—N. Baker & K.P. Lim, 2012: 123, 159.—L.K. Wang et al., 2012: 168.—Spinks et al., 2012: 812.—M.A.H. Chua, 2014c: 142 (MacRitchie Reservoir).— Flotow, 2014: 250 (MacRitchie Reservoir).—K.K.P. Lim, 2014a: 73 (Sime Track [SRF]).—Platt et al., 2014: 257.—H.H. Tan, 2014f: 181 (Nee Soon Swamp Forest; Sime Forest [SRF]).—Chan-ard et al., 2015: 37.—E.K. Chua, 2015: 87.—W. Wong, 2017: 51.—M.E.Y. Low et al., 2019: frontispiece.—R.C.H, Teo & Thomas, 2019: 148, 154, 179 (Bukit Timah Nature Reserve).— Andersen et al., 2021: 3.—M.E.Y. Low et al., 2021: 38.—Roomaaker, 2021: 161.—TTWG, 2021: 227.— Jusoh et al., 2022: 44.— M.L. Kwak & A. Ng, 2022: 929.

Remarks. An illustration of a juvenile H. spinosa with “ Singapour ” written in the upper left corner was deposited at MNHN by Duvaucel (Low et al. 2019; Tham et al. 2019; Low et al. 2021; Roomaaker 2021). As Duvaucel accompanied Raffles on the first natural history collecting expedition of Singapore in 1819, the painting is presumed to have originated that year (Low 2019). Thus, this painting represents the second earliest record for any herpetofauna from Singapore after C. porosus (see Pocklington 2019). The first two published records of H. spinosa from Singapore were from specimens deposited at NHMUK by Wallace that were reported in Gray (1855, 1873). No localities were provided, but given that Wallace spent most of his time around BTNR and DFNP, the turtles were most likely taken at one of these two locations. Shortly thereafter, Flower (1896) recounted two individuals he found in streams at BTNR in January 1896, and that Ridley has also seen several at BTNR. Ridley (1899) and Hanitsch (1908) expressed that H. spinosa was quite common at BTNR. Heosemys spinosa was only known from these accounts and from BTNR until Lim & Lim (1988c) reported one from SRF 80 years later on 16 October 1988 ( Table 2 ). However, there are two specimens at LKCNHM collected in 1923. Afterwards, H. spinosa was reported from a variety of different locations (see records above). Most records of H. spinosa are concentrated between 1988 and 1997, and there are four records from 2014 ( Chua 2014c; Flotow 2014; Lim 2014a; Tan 2014f). Previously a haven for H. spinosa (Ridley 1899) , only two individuals were recorded during the BTNR comprehensive surveys, opportunely caught in small mammal traps (Teo & Thomas 2019). Thus, H. spinosa is now considered rare ( Baker & Lim 2012) and endangered (NParks 2021).

Occurrence. Restricted to CNR and surrounding Nature Parks and forests. Uncommon.

Singapore conservation status. Endangered.

Conservation priority. Highest.

IUCN conservation status. Endangered [2021].

LKCNHM & NHMUK Museum specimens. Singapore (no locality) : BMNH 1855.5.3.1–2 (no date), BMNH 1896.6 .25.1 (no date) , BMNH 1898.2 .4.6 (no date) , ZRC.2.52 (24-Dec-1903) , ZRC.2.164 (1923); Kranji : ZRC.2.156 (1923); Rifle Range Road : ZRC.2.3367 (24-Jun-1992) ; Sime Road Forest : ZRC.2.6142 (19- Aug-2005) ; Upper Peirce Reservoir Park : ZRC.2.7401 (01-Mar-2019) .

Additional Singapore museum specimens. Singapore (no locality): CAS, RMNH.

Singapore localities. Bukit Timah Nature Reserve—Gangsa Forest—Kranji*—Lower Peirce Forest—Lower Peirce Reservoir Park—MacRitchie—MacRitchie Reservoir—Mandai (not specified)—Nee Soon Swamp Forest—Rifle Range Forest—Rifle Range Road—Rifle Range Road Pipeline—Sime Road Forest— Thomson Ridge Forest—Ulu Sembawang Forest—Upper Peirce Reservoir Park—Upper Peirce West Forest—Upper Seletar (not specified)—Upper Seletar North Forest.

Figures

FIGURE 9. A) Batagur borneoensis, B) Cuora amboinensis, C) Cyclemys dentata, D) Heosemys grandis, E) Heosemys spinosa, F) Notochelys platynota, G) Siebenrockiella crassicollis, and H) Amyda cartilaginea. Photographs by: Marjorie Chong [A], Law Ing Sind [B], Nick Baker [C, F], Joys Tan [D], Kelvin K.P. Lim [E], Marcus A.H. Chua [G], and Alex Figueroa [H].