Cuora trifasciata

__NOTOC__Taxobox


image_width = 240px
image_caption = Chinese three-striped box turtle
"Cuora trifasciata"
name = Golden Coin Turtle
status = CR
status_system = iucn2.3
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Sauropsida
ordo = Testudines
subordo = Cryptodira
superfamilia = Testudinoidea
familia = Geoemydidae
subfamilia = Geoemydinae
genus = "Cuora"
species = "C. trifasciata"
binomial = "Cuora trifasciata" (Sternothaerus trifasciatus in org Descr.)
binomial_authority = Bell, 1825

"Cuora trifasciata" is a species of turtle endemic to southern China, known in English as the Golden Coin Turtle or Three-striped/-banded/-lined Box Turtle.

The species is distributed in China (Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Hainan Provinces as well as Hong Kong); populations from Lao People's Democratic Republic and Vietnam are now regarded as an own species, "Cuora cyclornata". [Blanck "et al." (2006)] In Hong Kong, the species is found in Tai Tam Reservoir area on Hong Kong Island.

It hybridizes vigorously with its relatives in captivity and in the wild, and hybrids may be fertile. Several of these have been described as new species, such as the Fujian Pond Turtle, a hybrid between (usually) males of this species and females of the Asian Yellow Pond Turtle. In addition, the Golden Coin Turtle is suspected to be a parent of the supposed species Chinese False-eyed Turtle and Philippen's Striped Turtle. [Parham "et al." (2001), Buskirk "et al." (2005)]

Threats

The species is considered Critically Endangered with extinction by the IUCN. It is an important ingredient for making the Chinese medicinal dessert "guīlínggāo" (龜苓膏) so it is under threat because of hunting. This is one of the most endangered turtle species in the world, according to a 2003 assessment by the IUCN.Fact|date=September 2007

Footnotes

References

*|year=2000|id=5962|title=Cuora trifasciata|downloaded=11 May 2006 Listed as Critically Endangered (CR A1d+2d)
* (2006): On the Variability of "Cuora trifasciata". Edition Chimaira. 153pp.
*aut|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. [http://cc.usu.edu/~crfeldman/Buskirk_et_al_05.pdf PDF fulltext]
* (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. [http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract;jsessionid=4282B27D084B8B508074F736B4D11AD7.tomcat1?fromPage=online&aid=90491 HTML abstract] Erratum: "Animal Conservation" 5(1): 86 [http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=100113&fulltextType=ER&fileId=S1367943002001117 HTML abstract]
*

External links

* [http://www.hkras.org Hong Kong Reptile & Amphibian Society]
* [http://www.turtlepuddle.org/cuora/trifasciata.html Cuora trifasciata]
* [http://emys.geo.orst.edu/collection/species/Cuoratrifasciata/Cuoratrifasciata.html Information of species]
* [http://www.asianturtlenetwork.org/field_guide/Cuora_trifasciata.htm Asian Turtle Network: Cuora trifasciata]
* [http://annual.sp2000.org/2006/show_species_details.php?record_id=1283019 Species 2000]