McCord's box turtle

Species of turtle

McCord's box turtle
Adult female
Conservation status

Critically Endangered  (IUCN 2.3)
CITES Appendix II (CITES)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Testudines
Suborder: Cryptodira
Superfamily: Testudinoidea
Family: Geoemydidae
Genus: Cuora
Species:
C. mccordi
Binomial name
Cuora mccordi
Ernst, 1988
Synonyms[2]
  • Cuora mccordi
    Ernst, 1988
  • Cuora accordi [sic]
    Nöllert, 1992 (ex errore)
  • Cistoclemmys mccordi
    — Vetter, 2006

McCord's box turtle (Cuora mccordi) is a species of turtle in the family Geoemydidae. The species is native to China.

Etymology

The specific name, mccordi, is in honor of American veterinarian William Patrick McCord (born 1950).[3]

Taxonomy

Originally described by American herpetologist Carl Henry Ernst in 1988 from a specimen obtained from the Chinese pet trade, C. mccordi lacked geographic range data for 19 years until Chinese herpetologist Ting Zhou et al. (2007) were able to report it from the wild.[citation needed]

Geographic range

McCord's box turtle is endemic to central Guangxi province, China.[4]

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.[citation needed]

Juvenile
Plastron

Description

Once thought to reach only 14 cm (5.5 in) straight carapace length, specimens of McCord's box turtle of up to 18 cm (7.1 in) straight carapace length are known now.[when?][citation needed]

References

  1. ^ "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  2. ^ Fritz & Havaš, 2007.
  3. ^ 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 mccordi, p. 172).
  4. ^ Species Cuora mccordi at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.

Bibliography

  • ERNST CH (1988). "Cuora mccordi, a new Chinese box turtle from Guangxi Province". Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 101: 466-470.
  • FRITZ U, 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, LI P-P (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, BLANCK T, McCORD WP, LI P-P (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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Genera
Species of the family Geoemydidae
Northern river terrapin(Batagur baska)
BanhxeochelysBatagurCuoraCyclemysEchmatemys
  • Echmatemys septaria
  • Echmatemys stevensoniana
  • Echmatemys wyomingensis
GeoclemysGeoemydaHardellaHeosemysLeucocephalonMalayemysMauremysMelanochelysMoreniaNotochelysOrlitiaPangshuraRhinoclemmysSacaliaSiebenrockiellaVijayachelys
Phylogenetic arrangement of turtles based on turtles of the world 2017 update: Annotated checklist and atlas of taxonomy, synonymy, distribution, and conservation status. †=Extinct.
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Suborder
Superfamily
Family
Cryptodira
Chelonioidea
(Sea turtles)
Cheloniidae
Dermochelyidae
 
Kinosternoidea
Dermatemydidae
Kinosternidae
Testudinoidea
Emydidae
Geoemydidae
 Platysternidae
Testudinidae
Trionychia
Carettochelyidae
Trionychidae
 
 
Chelydridae
Nanhsiungchelyidae
Protostegidae
 
Pleurodira
 
Araripemydidae
Bothremydidae
Chelidae
Pelomedusidae
Podocnemididae
Sahonachelyidae
 
 
 
  • Phylogenetic arrangement of turtles based on Turtles of the World 2017 Update: Annotated Checklist and Atlas of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution, and Conservation Status. † = extinct.
Taxon identifiers
Cuora mccordi