Zhou's box turtle

Zhou's box turtle (Cuora zhoui) is a species of turtle in the family Geoemydidae (formerly Bataguridae). The species is apparently endemic to China.

Zhou's box turtle
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Testudines
Suborder: Cryptodira
Superfamily: Testudinoidea
Family: Geoemydidae
Genus: Cuora
Species:
C. zhoui
Binomial name
Cuora zhoui
Zhao, 1990
Synonyms[1]
  • Cuora zhoui
    Zhao in Zhao, T. Zhou & Ye, 1990
  • Cuora pallidicephala
    McCord & Iverson, 1991
  • Pyxiclemmys zhoui
    — Vetter in Vetter & van Dijk, 2006

Etymology

The specific name, zhoui, is in honor of Chinese herpetologist Zhou Jiufa.[2]

Geographic range

C. zhoui is only known from Chinese food market specimens, and from a relatively small number of individuals that are part of captive breeding programs in China, Germany (notably the Münster Zoo), and the United States.[3] In December 2018, the known captive population numbered about 140 individuals, including 80 hatched at the Münster Zoo.[4] It may be found in the forests of southeastern Yunnan or western Guangxi, although it has never been recorded in the wild.[3]

Female
Plastron

References
  1. Fritz, Uwe; Havaš, Peter (2007). "Checklist of Chelonians of the World" (PDF). Vertebrate Zoology. 57 (2): 219–220. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-12-17. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  2. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Cuora zhoui, p. 293).
  3. https://www.iucn.org/content/searching-elusive-zhous-box-turtle
  4. Zooborns (26 December 2018). Allwetterzoo Provides Haven for Endangered Turtles

Further reading
  • Zhao, "Er-mi"; Zhou, Ting; Ye, Ping (1990). "A new Chinese box turtle (Testudinata: Emydidae) — Cuora zhoui ". pp. 213–216. In: Zhao, "Ermi" (editor) (1990). From Water Onto Land. Beijing: Chinese Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles. ("Cuora zhoui Zhao sp. nov.", pp. 213, 216). (in Chinese and English).



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