Menu
Home
People
Places
Arts
History
Plants & Animals
Science
Life & Culture
Technology
Reference.org
Yangtze giant softshell turtle
open-in-new
<p>The Yangtze giant softshell turtle (<i>Rafetus swinhoei</i>), also commonly known as the Red River giant softshell turtle, the Shanghai softshell turtle, the speckled softshell turtle, and Swinhoe's softshell turtle, is a critically endangered <a href="/facts/Species/oDg6b96r">species</a> of <a href="/facts/Turtle/X0ImnxYt">turtle</a> in the <a href="/facts/Family_(biology)/qTrn6E8E">family</a> <a href="/facts/Trionychidae/LKKs8MY3">Trionychidae</a>. It is regarded as one of the largest living freshwater turtle species. Native to eastern and southern <a href="/facts/China/lTjIXY5p">China</a> and northern <a href="/facts/Vietnam/0ulfA8Eq">Vietnam</a>, the species has a known population of only two or three individuals, and the absence of fertile females has rendered it <a href="/facts/Functionally_extinct/vQpvCCys">functionally extinct</a>. </p>