McCord's box turtle
McCord's box turtle | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Subphylum: | Vertebrata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Order: | Testudines |
Suborder: | Cryptodira |
Superfamily: | Testudinoidea |
Family: | Geoemydidae |
Subfamily: | Geoemydinae |
Genus: | Cuora |
Species: | C. mccordi |
Binomial name | |
Cuora mccordi Ernst, 1988 | |
Synonyms[1] | |
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McCord's box turtle (Cuora mccordi) is a species in the southeast Asian genus Cuora (family Geoemydidae).
Etymology
The specific name, mccordi, is in honor of American veterinarian William Patrick McCord (born 1950).[2]
Taxonomy
Described by Ernst in 1988 from the Chinese pet trade, C. mccordi lacked distribution data for 19 years until Zhou et al. (2007) were able to report it from the wild.
Geographic range
McCord's box turtle is endemic to central Guangxi province, China.
Conservation status
C. mccordi is one of the most endangered Chinese endemic turtle species, highly sought after for traditional Chinese medicine and by turtle hobbyists.
Description
Once thought to reach only 14 cm (5.5 in) carapace length, specimens of McCord's box turtle of up to 18 cm (7.1 in) carapace length are known now.
References
Bibliography
- ERNST, C.H. 1988. Cuora mccordi, a new Chinese box turtle from Guangxi Province. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 101: 466-470.
- FRITZ, U., and HAVAŠ, P. 2007. Checklist of Chelonians of the World. Vertebrate Zoology 57 (2): 217.
- ZHOU T. 2007a. A survey of captive population dynamics for six endemic Chinese Box Turtle species. Sichuan Journal of Zoology, Chengdu 26 (2): 448-450.
- ZHOU T., P-P Li. 2007. Chelonian species diversity and current status in China. Sichuan Journal of Zoology 26 (2): 464-467. (in Chinese)
- ZHOU T. 2007b. Endemic Chinese box turtles. China Nature (2): 20-22. (in Chinese)
- Zhou T., T. Blanck, W. P. McCord & P-P. Li. 2008. Tracking Cuora mccordi (Ernst, 1988); the first record of its natural habitat; a re-description; with data on captive populations and its vulnerability. Hamadryad 32 (1): 46-58.
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