Keeled box turtle: Difference between revisions

Keeled Box Turtle
	Keeled box turtle; Pyxidea (Cuora) mouhotii mouhotii
Conservation status
	; Endangered (IUCN 2.3)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Sauropsida
Order:	Testudines
Suborder:	Cryptodira
Superfamily:	Testudinoidea
Family:	Geoemydidae
Subfamily:	Geoemydinae
Genus:	Cuora (but see text)
Species:	C. mouhotii
Binomial name
	Cuora mouhotii; Gray, 1862
Synonyms
	Pyxidea mouhotii (but see text) Cyclemys mouhotii

Browse history interactively

← Previous edit Next edit →

Content deleted Content added

VisualWikitext

Inline

Revision as of 21:51, 22 January 2008

The Keeled Box Turtle (Pyxidea mouhotii) is a species of the turtle family Geoemydidae found in China (Hainan & southwestern Guangxi and possibly southern Yunnan), northern and Central Vietnam, Laos, northern Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar and Assam in India.

Taxonomy

It is either the only species within the genus Pyxidea, or the latter is included in the other genus of Asian box turtle, Cuora. Genetic analysis by Stuart and Parham (2002), Parham et al. (2004) and Spinks et al. (2004) have shown, that this species is very closely related to the Genus Cuora. Depending on each scientist's taxonomic view, it can now be regarded as a species of Cuora or well still remain as a Genus or subgenus i.e. Pyxidea. Since Pyxidea is the commonly used name for this species, it will be maintained as such here.

File:Mouhotii2.jpg

Plastron P.m. mouhotii

File:Obsti.jpg

Male P.m. obsti

File:Obsti2.jpg

Plastron P.m. obsti

One subspecies has been described so far:

Pyxidea (Cuora) mouhotii obsti (Fritz, Andreas & Lehr, 1998) from the Annam mountain range in central Vietnam. It is distinguisehd by the nominate subspecies by its rounder shell, an reticulated head pattern and a distinct plastral pattern with more black pigments (forming larger black blotches).

The Populations from Myanmar and India might represent another yet undescribed subspecies.

Description

This turtle is characterized by a yellowish brown to darkbrown or even black colored carapace, with a distinctive keel running lengthwise down the center of it, and a yellowish, orange, red, brown or black head and limbs. It is not as aquatic as the typical species of Cuora but rather terrestrial, preferring only moderately moist habitats with plenty of vegetation and ground litter for cover. They grow to approximately 7 inches in length and are mainly carnivorous, some accepting fruits in captivity.

Females of the Indochinese Box Turtle complex hybridize - apparently in the wild - with Keeled Box Turtle males to produce the turtles once considered a separate species or subspecies Cuora (galbinifrons) serrata.^[1] see Cuora on this topic.

Footnotes

^ Parham et al. (2001), Buskirk et al. (2005).

References

Template:IUCN2006 Listed as Endangered (EN A1d+2d)
Bernhardt, K. (1995): Pyxidea mouhotii (Gray 1862). J. AG Schildkr. Panzerechsen 95(2): 7-18.
Buskirk, James R.; Parham, James F. & Feldman, Chris R. (2005): On the hybridisation between two distantly related Asian turtles (Testudines: Sacalia × Mauremys). Salamandra 41: 21-26. PDF fulltext
Gray, J.E. (1862): Notice of a new species of Cyclemys from the Lao Mountains, in Siam. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist 10(3): 157
Gray, J.E. (1864): Observations on the box tortoises, with the description of three new asiatic species. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. 13(3): 105-111
Parham, James Ford; Simison, W. Brian; Kozak, Kenneth H.; Feldman, Chris R. & Shi, Haitao (2001): New Chinese turtles: endangered or invalid? A reassessment of two species using mitochondrial DNA, allozyme electrophoresis and known-locality specimens. Animal Conservation 4(4): 357–367. HTML abstract Erratum: Animal Conservation 5(1): 86 HTML abstract
Stuart, B.L. & Parham, James Ford (2004): Molecular phylogeny of the critically endangered Indochinese box turtle (Cuora galbinifrons). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 31(1): 164-177. doi:10.1016/S1055-7903(03)00258-6 PDF fulltext

External links

This article about a turtle is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] Parham et al. (2001), Buskirk et al. (2005).

[1]

@@ Line 24: / Line 24: @@
 }}
-The '''Keeled Box Turtle''' ('''''Cuora mouhotii''''') is a [[species]] of the turtle [[family]] [[Geoemydidae]] found in [[China]] ([[Hainan]] & southwestern [[Guangxi]] and possibly southern [[Yunnan]]), northern and Central [[Vietnam]], [[Laos]], northern [[Cambodia]], [[Thailand]], [[Myanmar]] and [[Assam]] in [[India]].
+The '''Keeled Box Turtle''' ('''''Pyxidea mouhotii''''') is a [[species]] of the turtle [[family]] [[Geoemydidae]] found in [[China]] ([[Hainan]] & southwestern [[Guangxi]] and possibly southern [[Yunnan]]), northern and Central [[Vietnam]], [[Laos]], northern [[Cambodia]], [[Thailand]], [[Myanmar]] and [[Assam]] in [[India]].
 ==Taxonomy==
- Genetic analysis by Stuart and Parham (2002), Parham et al. (2004) and Spinks et al. (2004) have shown, that this species is very closely related to the Genus Cuora. Depending on each scientist's taxonomic view, it can now be regarded as a species of Cuora or well still remain as a Genus or subgenus i.e. Pyxidea.
+It is either the only species within the [[genus]] '''''Pyxidea''''', or the latter is included in the other genus of Asian [[box turtle]], ''[[Cuora]]''. Genetic analysis by Stuart and Parham (2002), Parham et al. (2004) and Spinks et al. (2004) have shown, that this species is very closely related to the Genus Cuora. Depending on each scientist's taxonomic view, it can now be regarded as a species of Cuora or well still remain as a Genus or subgenus i.e. Pyxidea. Since Pyxidea is the commonly used name for this species, it will be maintained as such here.
 [[Image:Mouhotii2.jpg|thumb|left|Plastron P.m. mouhotii]]
 [[Image:Obsti.jpg|thumb|left|Male P.m. obsti]]