Cuora galbinifrons

Taxobox
name = Vietnamese Box Turtle


image_width = 240px
image_caption = Northern Vietnamese Box Turtle
"Cuora galbinifrons galbinifrons"| 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. galbinifrons"
binomial = "Cuora galbinifrons"
binomial_authority = Bourret, 1939
synonyms ="Cuora galbinifrons hainanensis"" Cyclemys flavomarginata hainanensis""Cuora hainanensis""Cistoclemmys galbinifrons"

The Indochinese Box Turtle aka Vietnamese Box Turtle or Flowerback Box Turtle ("Cuora galbinifrons") is a species of box turtle from China (Hainan and Guangxi), northern and central Vietnam,Laos and possibly northeastern Cambodia.

The northern Vietnamese Box turtle Cuora galbinifrons galbinifrons was described by Bourret in 1939 but it took nearly 40 years until the first specimens where imported to Europe and the USA.This subspecies occurs in extreme southern Guangxi Province, China, in northern Vietnam and probably northern Laos and on Hainan Island (China). The Population from Hainan was once considered to represent a distinct species (Zhao, 1975) or at least subspecies (Iverson & Mccord, 1992), "Cuora (galbinifrons) hainanensis" (Li, 1958 : org desc. "Cyclemys flavomarginata hainanensis"). Li, 1958 was not aware of the description from Bourret (1939) of C. galbinifrons and thus believed to have something new of which he believed it is a subspecies of "Cuora flavomarginata" the only Cuora species known at this time with at least some similarities. According to some, specimens from Hainan do not always have a fully black plastron (always the case in mainland "C.g. galbinifrons") but sometimes lighter parts. Furthermore, the carapace shows more red pigmentation and brown spots. Genetic and morphologic studies believe it to be a synonym of C.g. galbinifrons however.

"C.g. galbinifrons": dorsal view (Hainan) and plastral view (Vietnam)

The central Vietnamese Flowerback box turtle (Cuora (galbinifrons) bourreti) occurs in central Vietnam and adjacent Laos and possibly in northeastern Cambodia. The most notable difference to the nominate race is the distinct plastral pattern, where only smaller black blotches (sometimes none at all) occur.

"C.g. bourreti": lateral view light colored variety (Cambodia/Laos), Plastral view, lateral view of the dark-colored Vietnam variety

Described as a subspecies (Obst & Reimann, 1994) of Cuora galbinifrons, genetic studies (Stuart & Parham 2004) have shown it to be quite distinct, possibly to the extent of an own species, i.e., Cuora bourreti as is the case with Cuora picturata (Lehr et al. 1998), once also considered a subspecies of Cuora galbinifrons. However, ostelogic studies (Fritz et al. 2006) have shown that C.g. bourreti probably better remains as a subspecies of C. galbinifrons. This is also substantiated by the finding of intergradation zones in north-central Vietnam, where hybrid populations of C.g. galbinifrons and C.g. bourreti are known to exist (Fritz et al. 2003). The status of C. picturata is uncertain, while this is the morphologically and phenotypically most distinct variety, authors like Fritz & Havas (2006) treat it as subspecies of C. galbinifrons again. Herein it is treated as a separate but closely related species.

Specimens of at least the Northern and Central Vietnamese taxa hybridize—apparently in the wild—with Keeled Box Turtle males to produce the turtles once considered a separate species or subspecies: "Cuora serrata".

Footnotes

References

*Fritz, Uwe, Antje Petzold and Markus Auer. 2006. Osteology in the Cuora galbinifrons complex suggests conspecificity of C. bourreti and C. galbinifrons, with notes on shell osteology and phalangeal formulae within the Geoemydidae. Amphibia- Reptilia. 27 (2): 195-205.
*Fritz, U., Ziegler, T., Herrmann, H.-W., Lehr, E., 2002. Intergradation between subspecies of Cuora galbinifrons Bourret, 1939 and Pyxidea mouhotii (Gray, 1862) in southern North Vietnam. Faun. Abh. Mus. Tierk. Dresden, 23: 59-74.
*Obst, F.J., Reimann, M., 1994. Bemerkenswerte Variabilität bei Cuora galbinifrons Bourret, 1939, mit Beschreibung einer neuen geographischen Unterart: Cuora galbinifrons bourreti subsp. nov. Zool. Abh. Mus. Tierk. Dresden, 48: 125-138.
*Stuart, B.L., Parham, J.F., 2004. Molecular phylogeny of the critically endangered Indochinese box turtle (Cuora galbinifrons). Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 31: 164-177.

External links

* [http://www.chelonia.org/Articles/galbgalbdetail.htm "Cuora galbinifrons galbinifrons" - Visual Determination of Subspecies] by Chris Tabaka, DVM. Retrieved 2007-SEP-1.