Giant South American turtle (Podocnemis expansa), also known as the Charapa turtle, Arrau turtle, Tartaruga-da-amaz繫nia, or Ara繳, is the largest of the side-neck turtles (Pleurodira). It is found in the Amazon River and its tributaries. Adults often reach 1 m in length. Females have wide flattened shells and are larger and more numerous than the males. Adult Arraus feed entirely on plant food. The nesting habits of this species are similar to those of their sea turtle kindred. Like sea turtles they gather in huge numbers in order to travel to suitable nesting areas. The females lay their eggs on sandbanks which are exposed only in the dry season, and there are relatively few such sites. Females lay their eggs which can number anywhere from 90 to 100 soft-shelled eggs. Due to overhunting by man this species' numbers have dramatically declined and it is listed as endangered. However this is hard to enforce in the remote habitats where it lives. Photo Iquitos' Mercado Belen, Loreto, Peru.