A turtle believed to be of the same species as the one that lived in Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi was found in the Dong Mo Lake outside the city in 2007. (Photo courtesy of biologist Ha Dinh Duc) Hanoi (VNA) - A new turtlewith an appearance similar to that of the turtle that lived in Hoan Kiem Lakein Hanoi have been found. But according to an expert, it is yet to beconfirmed if they are of the same species.
The Asia TurtleProgramme (ATP) announced last week it had found a turtle of the samespecies as the Hoan Kiem turtle in a town north of Hanoi using environmentalDNA testing (eDNA) techniques.
ATP considered this “aground-breaking discovery” since the last turtle that lived in Hoan Kiem Lake –one of the last of the Yangtze giant softshell turtles, belonging to thespecies Rafetus swinhoei – died in January 2016.
The species now hasjust three living specimens, two in China and one in a lake outside Hanoi. If the turtle found byATP is of the same species as the Hoan Kiem turtle, it will increase the numberof the specimens to four.
The discovery alsogives hope to Vietnamese scientists in terms of preserving the species bybreeding the two specimens.
ATP said the turtlewas first spotted by locals in Xuan Khanh Lake in Son Tay town in 2016.
In May 2017, ATPresearcher Nguyen Van Trong was able to capture a good-quality photograph thatshowed the turtle to be soft-shelled, but it was not enough to identify itsspecies.
ATP decided to collectwater samples from the lake and analysed them in a laboratory of the WashingtonState University following eDNA testing – a technique that focuses on detectingthe smallest genetic traces in the water, often applied to fish and amphibians,according to ATP.
The analysis showedthat the genetic traces found in the water were consistent with those found inHoan Kiem Lake, ATP said.
However, Ha Dinh Duc,a biologist who spent years studying the last Hoan Kiem turtle, said theevidence of ATP was not enough to confirm if the two turtles belonged to thesame species.
“The biological terms ‘family’ and ‘species’get mixed up all the time,” he said. “All freshwater turtles belong tothe Trionychidae family, so even the Asiatic softshell turtle can be considered ‘related’ tothe Hoan Kiem turtle, but they are not of the same ‘species’,” he said.
“Biologicallyspeaking, two specimens of the same species are those that are exactly alikeand are able to reproduce when mating with each other, and their offspringswill be able to do the same,” he added.
“Breeding two specimensof different species may produce the first generation of offsprings, but theseoffsprings will not be able to reproduce,” he said, referring to the mule,which is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse.
Since ATP scientistswere not able to catch the turtle and conducted studies only on the basis ofobservation and water samples, it is yet to be confirmed if the turtle theyfound is of the same species as the Hoan Kiem turtle, Duc said, adding that“catching a turtle in such a deep, large lake is not an easy task.”
The other two turtlespecimens belonging to the same species as the Hoan Kiem turtle – one male andone female – are being cared for at the Suzhou Zoo in China. Scientists havetried breeding the two since 2008 with no success as the eggs laid by thefemale were infertile.-VNA
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