Pleurodira

The Pleurodira are one of the two living suborders of turtles, the other being the Cryptodira. This division represents a very deep evolutionary divide between two very different types of turtle. The physical differences between them, although anatomical and largely internal, are nonetheless significant, and the zoogeographic implications of them are substantial. The Pleurodira are known more commonly as the side-necked turtles and the name Pleurodira quite literally translates to side neck, whereas the Cryptodira are known as hidden-neck turtles. The Pleurodira turtles are restricted to the Southern Hemisphere, largely to Australia, South America and Africa. The Pleurodira are identified by the method they use to withdraw their heads into their shells. In these turtles, the neck is bent in the horizontal plane-drawing the head inside with it tucked into the space in front of one of the front legs. With the head withdrawn, some of the neck always remains exposed. This differs from the method employed by Cryptodira turtles, which bend the neck in the horizontal plane, hence pulling the head straight back between the front legs and the neck is completely hidden. For more information, visit the Wikipedia entry Get back to Anapsida
Eastern long-necked turtle	Hilaire's side-necked turtle	Mata mata
Red-bellied short-necked turtle	Reimann’s snake-necked turtle	West African mud turtle
Western swamp turtle	Yellow-spotted river turtle