I got a nice little surprise on iNaturalist. I'd identified the turtles we saw in the Burhapahar Range of Kaziranga NP in Assam, India as Indian Roofed Turtles, turtles we saw in other parts of Kaziranga as well. One other identifier labled it the same, but then two others identified them as Assam roofed turtles, a critically endangered species. Cuora1, by far the top identifier of them on iNaturalist with 306 identifications, was one of the identifiers.
Wikipedia notes that it "is also known as the Sylhet roofed turtle and is found in the the Brahmaputra-Meghna drainage" in Assam, India and "parts of eastern Bangladesh." We saw these very near the Brahmaputra River in a side canal. It may also be found in Bhutan. "The turtle is shy and never basks on river banks, but only on emergent logs or rocks. At the slightest disturbance, it will dive quickly to the middle of the river, hiding between rocks... [It] is a rare species known only from a few individuals; it is believed to have one of the narrowest distributions of any south Asian geoemydid. It is exploited for its meat and eggs for local consumption and collected for the pet trade, especially in Asia where this turtle fetches high prices as pets."
It "has a triangular and elevated carapace with a prominent spiked keel and 26 strongly serrated marginal plates. The carapace is olive brown, with a lighter (yellowish to beige) keel. The head is small and has a weakly hooked upper jaw; a narrow pink stripe runs from the back of each eye to the middle of the back of the head. Adults may attain a maximum length of 20.5 cm, although body sizes of 16 cm are more common."
Wow, that's an accomplishment! I wish now that I had gotten a better look at them in real life.
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