Asian box turtles are
turtles of the
genus ''Cuora'' in the family
Geoemydidae
The Geoemydidae (formerly known as Bataguridae) are one of the largest and most diverse families in the order Testudines (turtles), with about 70 species. The family includes the Eurasian pond and river turtles and Neotropical wood turtles. Memb ...
. About 12 extant
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...
are recognized.
[Spinks, P. Q., et al. (2012)]
Species boundaries and phylogenetic relationships in the critically endangered Asian box turtle genus ''Cuora''.
''Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution'' 63(3), 656-67. The
keeled box turtle (''Pyxidea mouhotii'' syn. ''Cuora mouhotii'') is often included in this genus, or separated in the
monotypic genus
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...
''Pyxidea''. Genus ''Cuora'' is distributed from
China to
Indonesia and the
Philippines, throughout mainland
Southeast Asia, and into northern
India and
Bhutan
Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...
.
Description
''Cuora'' species are characterized by a low- (e.g. ''
Cuora pani'') to high- (e.g. ''
Cuora picturata'')
domed
shell
Shell may refer to:
Architecture and design
* Shell (structure), a thin structure
** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses
** Thin-shell structure
Science Biology
* Seashell, a hard o ...
, which usually has three keels on the
carapace
A carapace is a dorsal (upper) section of the exoskeleton or shell in a number of animal groups, including arthropods, such as crustaceans and arachnids, as well as vertebrates, such as turtles and tortoises. In turtles and tortoises, the under ...
. They are reddish, yellowish, brown, grey, and/or black in color. Some species have bright yellow, black, orange, or white stripes down the length of their keels. Their body color is highly variable, but usually very intense. Most species show stripes of variable color down either side of their heads, which usually meet at the nose.
Background
Asian box turtles are the most heavily trafficked turtles in the world. They are captured and sold as food to China, and to the
United States as pets. Nancy Karraker, a
University of Rhode Island
The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of the state of Rhode Isla ...
associate professor, has said “
Trafficking
Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations.
There are various ...
in turtles is a major issue in Southeast Asia, and it’s important that we understand the key ecological roles that species like this box turtle play before it’s too late,”
Different conservation organizations are taking action to prevent or slow down the extinction of these species, but in the past, most of the efforts failed due to lack of biological research regarding the history or genetic diversity of these species.
Behavior
Asian box turtles are terrestrial, semiaquatic, or mainly aquatic, most spending much of their time on the edge of shallow swamps, streams, or ponds that are dense with vegetation. Most are
omnivorous
An omnivore () is an animal that has the ability to eat and survive on both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize the nut ...
, but
carnivores
A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose food and energy requirements derive from animal tissues (mainly muscle, fat and other so ...
do occur.
Taxonomy and systematics
Listed alphabetically by binomial name, the species are:
*
Amboina box turtle
The Amboina box turtle or Southeast Asian box turtle (''Cuora amboinensis'') is a species of Asian box turtle.
It is found in the Nicobar Islands, eastern India (Assam), Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, central and southern Vietn ...
or Southeast Asian box turtle, ''C. amboinensis'' (four subspecies)
**Wallacean box turtle, ''C. a. amboinensis''
**West Indonesian box turtle, ''C. a. couro''
**Malayan box turtle or domed Malayan box turtle, ''C. a. kamaroma''
**Burmese box turtle, ''C. a. lineata''
*
Yellow-headed box turtle
The yellow-headed box turtle or golden-headed box turtle (''Cuora aurocapitata'') is a proposed species of turtle in the family Geoemydidae (formerly Bataguridae). It is sometimes considered a subspecies of Pan's box turtle (''Cuora pani aurocap ...
or golden-headed box turtle, ''Cuora aurocapitata'' or ''C. (pani) aurocapitata''
*
Bourret's box turtle, ''C. bourreti''
*†''Cuora chiangmuanensis'' (Late Miocene of Thailand)
*
Vietnamese three-striped box turtle or green rice turtle, ''Cuora cyclornata'' (three subspecies)
*
Chinese box turtle, yellow-margined box turtle, or golden-headed turtle, ''C. flavomarginata'' (two subspecies)
*
Indochinese box turtle, Vietnamese box turtle or flowerback box turtle, ''C. galbinifrons''
*
McCord's box turtle, ''C. mccordi''
*†''Cuora miyatai'' (Middle Pleistocene of Japan)
*
Keeled box turtle, ''C. mouhotii'' (two subspecies)
*
Pan's box turtle, ''C. pani'' = "''C. chriskarannarum''"
*
Southern Vietnamese box turtle, ''C. picturata''
*†''Cuora pitheca'' (Late Miocene of China)
*
Golden coin turtle or Chinese three-striped box turtle, ''C. trifasciata''
*†''Cuora tungia'' (Lower Pleistocene of China)
*
Yunnan box turtle, ''C. yunnanensis'' - rediscovered in 2004, verified in 2007
*
Zhou's box turtle, ''C. zhoui'' = "''C. pallidicephala''"
''
Cuora serrata'', originally described as ''C. galbinifrons serrata'' by Iverson & Mccord and later considered a distinct species is a
hybrid
Hybrid may refer to:
Science
* Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding
** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species
** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...
of the
keeled box turtle and taxa of the
Indochinese box turtle complex as shown by the genetic studies of Parham ''et al.''
[ ] and Stuart & Parham (2004). A single specimen of ''C. serrata'' has been found in the wild, lending credence to the possibility that other specimens arose through natural hybridization or even from wild populations. No Chinese
turtle farm
Turtle farming is the practice of raising turtles and tortoises of various species commercially. Raised animals are sold for use as gourmet food, traditional medicine ingredients, or as pets. Some farms also sell young animals to other farms, e ...
is known to produce ''C. serrata''-like specimens. The occurrence of wild hybrids is often regarded as "evolution in progress", a terminology and point of view that is not always accepted. It has yet to be confirmed, whether all ''C. serrata'' from the wild have originated by direct hybridization of ''C. mouhotii'' and ''C. galbinifrons'', or also by "hybridisation" of ''C. serrata'' × ''C. serrata''.
Unnamed hybrids of several other ''Cuora''
taxa
In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...
are also known, as are intergeneric hybrids such as ''Mauremys iversoni'',
a hybrid between ''
Cuora trifasciata
__NOTOC__
The golden coin turtle or Chinese three-striped box turtle (''Cuora trifasciata'') is a species of turtle endemic to southern China.
Distribution
The species is distributed in China, but only on the island of Hainan (it is extirpated fr ...
'' and ''
Mauremys mutica
The yellow pond turtle (''Mauremys mutica''), is a medium-sized (to 19.5 cm), semiaquatic turtle in the family Geoemydidae. This species has a characteristic broad yellow stripe extending behind the eye and down the neck; the carapace ranges ...
'', which is intentionally produced in Chinese turtle farms.
In captivity
Wild-caught ''C. amboinensis'' specimens were frequently available in the exotic animal trade, but are getting rarer now; other species are rare to commercially extinct.
See also
*
Box turtle
Box turtle is the common name for several species of turtle. It may refer to those of the genus '' Cuora'' or '' Pyxidea'', which are the Asian box turtles, or more commonly to species of the genus '' Terrapene'', the North American box turtles. ...
Notes
References
Further reading
*Buskirk, J. R., et al. (2005)
On the hybridisation between two distantly related Asian turtles (Testudines: ''Sacalia'' × ''Mauremys'').''Salamandra'' 41, 21–26.
{{Authority control
Taxa named by John Edward Gray
Turtles of Asia