Conservation Biology of Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises: A Compilation ProjectChelidae of the IUCN/SSC — Acanthochelys Tortoise and macrocephala Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group 040.1 A.G.J. Rhodin, P.C.H. Pritchard, P.P. van Dijk, R.A. Saumure, K.A. Buhlmann, J.B. Iverson, and R.A. Mittermeier, Eds. Chelonian Research Monographs (ISSN 1088-7105) No. 5, doi:10.3854/crm.5.040.macrocephala.v1.2009 © 2009 by Chelonian Research Foundation • Published 9 December 2009 Acanthochelys macrocephala (Rhodin, Mittermeier, and McMorris 1984) – Big-Headed Pantanal Swamp Turtle, Pantanal Swamp Turtle ANDERS G.J. RHODIN 1, SÉB A STIEN MÉTR A ILLER 2, THO ma S VINKE 3, SA BINE VINKE 3, HA R A LD ARTNER 4, A ND RUSSELL A. MITTER M EIER 5 1Chelonian Research Foundation, 168 Goodrich St., Lunenburg, Massachusetts 01462 USA [
[email protected]]; 2Chemin du Bosquet 6, CH-1967 Bramois, Switzerland [
[email protected]]; 3Filadelfia 853, 9300 Fernheim, Paraguay [
[email protected]]; 4Maria Ponsee 32, 3454 Reidling, Austria [
[email protected]]; 5Conservation International, 2011 Crystal Drive, Suite 500, Arlington, Virginia 22202 USA [
[email protected]] SU mma RY . – The big-headed Pantanal swamp turtle, Acanthochelys macrocephala (Family Che- lidae), is a medium-sized aquatic turtle (carapace length to 295 mm), endemic to the Pantanal and Chaco ecoregions of Brazil, Bolivia, and northern Paraguay. It has a limited distribution in the upper Río Paraguai drainage and is apparently restricted to the swampy lowlands of the Pantanal and the arid plains of the northern Chaco. The species inhabits marshes, wetland areas, shallow bays and brackish lagoons (salinas), as well as opportunistically utilizing ephemeral waterbodies, including roadside drainage ditches and farm irrigation reservoirs and artificial ponds in pasturelands taja( - mares).