The Nile Soft-Shelled Turtle (Trionyx triunguis) is an African freshwater turtle without scales.
Triunguis means three-toed. Most turtles have four toes.
Their shell is flat, not domed. It has a long tubular nose.
Nile Soft-Shelled Turtle
The Nile Soft-Shelled Turtle lives in rivers and lakes around the Lake Turkana and Lake Albert areas of Kenya, as well as the White Nile, downstream of Murchison Falls in Uganda.
The Nile Soft-Shelled Turtle can grow to 70 centimetres (27 inches).
The Nile Soft-Shelled Turtle is diurnal, which means that it is active during the day. Sometimes it buries itself in mud.
They are mainly carnivorous, feeding on fish, snails, aquatic insects, crabs, amphibians (frogs and toads), reptiles (such as small lizards), and some vegetation from surrounding plants.
Females can lay 25-100 eggs.
Their average life span is approximately 50 years.
They are critically endangered. Other species live in Syria, Turkey, Israel, and Lebanon.
Nile Soft-Shelled Turtle
Nile Soft-Shelled Turtle
Nile Soft-Shelled Turtle
Nile Soft-Shelled Turtle
Nile Soft-Shelled Turtle
Photographer: Martina Nicolls
Martina Nicolls: SIMILAR BUT DIFFERENT IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM