---
title: "Terekayschildpad"
description: "Podocnemis unifilis — Reptielen. The yellow-spotted Amazon river turtle (Podocnemis unifilis), also known commonly as the yellow-headed sideneck turtle and the yellow-spotted river turtle, and locally as the taricaya, is one of the largest South American river turtles."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/nl/animal/yellow-headed-sideneck
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Terekayschildpad

> Podocnemis unifilis — Reptielen. The yellow-spotted Amazon river turtle (Podocnemis unifilis), also known commonly as the yellow-headed sideneck turtle and the yellow-spotted river turtle, and locally as the taricaya, is one of the largest South American river turtles.

- Scientific name: *Podocnemis unifilis*
- Category: `reptiles` (Reptielen)
- Habitats: `freshwater` (Meren en rivieren), `jungle` (Jungle)
- iNaturalist observations: 3027
- Wikidata: [Q863041](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q863041)
- iNaturalist taxon: [40146](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/40146)

## Names

- en: Yellow-headed Sideneck
- de: Terekay-Schienenschildkröte
- es: Terecaya
- fr: Podocnémide de Cayenne
- nl: Terekayschildpad
- pt: Tracajá

## Countries with the most observations

BR (435), PE (393), EC (391), BO (329), CO (136), GF (27), GY (17), TW (16), HK (8), VE (5)

## Summary

The yellow-spotted Amazon river turtle (Podocnemis unifilis), also known commonly as the yellow-headed sideneck turtle and the yellow-spotted river turtle, and locally as the taricaya, is one of the largest South American river turtles.
Podocnemis unifilis is a type of side-necked turtles, so called because they do not pull their heads directly into their shells, but rather bend their necks sideways to tuck their heads under the rim of their shells. Side-neck turtles are classified as members of the suborder Pleurodira.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow-spotted_river_turtle

## Photo

![Terekayschildpad](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/yellow-headed-sideneck/medium.jpg)

Photo: russnamitz · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/311842980

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/yellow-headed-sideneck?lang=nl` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).