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The Tortuga Gazette and Education Since 1964 Volume 55, Number 3 • May/June 2019

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The Tortuga Gazette and Education Since 1964 Volume 55, Number 3 • May/June 2019 Dedicated to CALIFORNIA TURTLE & TORTOISE CLUB Turtle & Tortoise Conservation, Preservation the Tortuga Gazette and Education Since 1964 Volume 55, Number 3 • May/June 2019 Cuora picturata, the Southern Vietnam box turtle. Photo by Torsten Blanck. Public domain. Indochinese Box Turtles, Cuora galbinifrons species The Indochinese Box Turtle Complex by M. A. Cohen ndemic to the forest highlands of the Cuora galbinifrons complex Bourret’s, or Central Viet- Eof Cambodia, China, Laos, and is a subject of debate within the namese box turtle Vietnam, the Asian box turtles in chelonian community. In keeping (Cuora bourreti Obst & Reimann, the Indochinese box turtle complex with the current taxonomy, the gal- 1994) are classified by some researchers binifrons complex will be considered Indochinese, or North as three subspecies, while others three separate species for purpos- Vietnamese box turtle consider them to be a single spe- es of this article. (Cuora galbinifrons Bourret, cies with geographic variations, In 2002 herpetologist R. Bour 1939) and another group believes the published a paper expressing the Southern Vietnamese box “subspecies” are separate species opinion that the members of the turtle altogether. galbinifrons complex should be (Cuora picturata Lehr, Fritz & As the previous paragraph indi- transferred from the genus Cuora Obst, 1998) cates, the taxonomy (classification) or the genus Cistoclemmys. This 2 Tortuga Gazette 55(3) • May/June 2019 C The Indochinese Box Turtle Complex by M. A. Cohen 1 O Cuora head portraits: a photographic collage by Torsten Blanck 5 N Mike's Turtle Net Picks by Michael J. Connor, Ph.D. 6 Sulcata Going Native by Robert Parker 8 T Philippines Customs Find More Than 1,500 Live Turtles in Suitcases 9 E Your Email Address is Changing...Now What? 11 N Meetings and Programs T The Turtle’s Garden: Sweet Alyssum (Lobularia maritima) 12 S Ban Sought on Commercial Wild Turtle Trapping in Maryland 13 taxonomic change is not yet widely programs in Southeast Asia, Ger- ecosystems, coastal marine envi- accepted in the literature. There- many, and the United States exist, ronments and tropical woodlands. fore, the genus name Cuora will be but their success has been limited Among the least aquatic members used in the current article. because propagation of these spe- of the genus Cuora, members of The term Cuora, a local Indonesian cies in captivity is challenging. the galbinifrons complex occupy name for the Amboina box turtle (C. According to the Convention on terrestrial habitats, although they amboinensis), is currently used as International Trade in Endangered willingly enter water and sometimes the genus name of a group of Asian Species (CITES), since 2000 the feed in it. box turtles with some 12 recog- galbinifrons complex is listed in Their ecosystems are typically de- nized species. Appendix II because of commercial scribed as cool upland woodlands According to the Red List of the de mand. During the next CITES and moist evergreen forests with International Union for the Con- Conference of the Parties in Sri closed canopies. Shy and secre- servation of Nature, beginning in Lanka (23 May – 3 June 2019), a tive, members of the galbinifrons the year 2000, all members of the proposal will be introduced by Viet- complex favor the protection of the galbinifrons complex were listed as nam to transfer C. picturata from dense understory brush in their for- 2 critically endangered with popula- Appendix II to Appendix I. est habitats. tion trends that are decreasing. General Information The Asian box turtles in the galbin- Rarely observed in the wild, these Cuora bourreti, C. galbinifrons, and ifrons complex are medium-sized, populations have been severely C picturata are members of the reaching a carapace length of affected by intensive collection for Geoemydidae family, one of the approximately 8 inches (20 cen- local consumption as well as for largest and most diverse of all che- timeters). All members possess a the pet trade and food markets, lonian families. While it was once domed carapace and a hinged plas- both national and international. called the Bataguridae family, the tron that allows their soft tissues to Frequently used to find wild turtles, Geoemydidae family is endemic to be completely enclosed within their hunting dogs increase the severity tropical and subtropical regions of hard shells, affording them protec- of the collection impact. Asia, Europe, and North Africa, with tion from predators. The plastral one genus—Rhinoclemmys—inhab- hinge, which is absent in hatchlings, In captivity females lay a single iting Central and South America. develops some time after two years clutch of only one to three eggs Some 70 species comprise the of age. each season, which is considered family, including Eurasian pond and 1 Sexual dimorphism in the galbin- to be low fecundity. Clutch size in river turtles, and Neotropical wood ifrons complex is minimal; the main the wild is unknown. Commercial turtles. exploitation for trade coupled with difference in appearance between low fecundity place the galbinifrons Preferred habitats of the family males and females is that males complex at considerable risk for of geoemydids include freshwater have somewhat thicker tails than extinction. females. 2 Comparatively small breeding CITES Appendix I: this listing affords en- According to the Naturalis Biodi- dangered species maximum protection from versity Center’s website Turtles commercial exploitation, allowing trade only for of the World, the diet of the gal- 1 scientific research and only when accompanied fecundity: the ability to produce an abundance binifrons complex in the wild is of offspring. by valid import and export permits. 3 Tortuga Gazette 55(3) • May/June 2019 to yellow with a dark Endemic to north Vietnam, Hainan blotch on each plastral Island and Yunnan and Guangxi scute. The head of C. provinces in China, C. galbinifrons bourreti is usually buff, is sometimes called the flowerback light yellow, pale green, box turtle. This common name may or gray, and its limbs are be referring the delicate dark pat- generally gray or tan. terning that is often present on the According to a 2017 light-colored, longitudinal bands press release from the that alternate with dark bands on Smithsonian National the species’ carapace. The Indo- Zoo, researchers esti- chinese box turtle has a somewhat mate that only 2,300 flattened and elongated carapace Bourret’s box turtles when compared to the other mem- exist in the wild. These bers of the galbinifrons complex. populations “have de- The species’ plastron is typically clined more than 90% dark gray or black in color in young- since the mid-1950s er turtles, and, as the individual because of habitat de- ages, some overall lightening or forestation and illegal lighter blotching may appear. The trafficking in the food soft tissues of the limbs, head and and pet trade.” tail are sometimes accented with While some scientists bright red markings. generally recognize While C. galbinifrons is considered Bourret’s box turtle as to be terrestrial, the ancestors a separate species as of the contemporary Cuora were Top: Bourret’s box turtle, Cuora bourreti, also known as the central described Vietnamese flowerback box turtle which typically has a carapace in the 2004 that is dark in coloration. Photo by Torsten Blanck. Public domain. paper by Bottom: Plastral view of a Bourret’s box turtle. Note the plastral Stuart and hinge between the abdominal and femoral scutes. Photo © 2002 by Parham, Torsten Blanck. Source: Wikimedia Commons; license: CC BY-SA 3.0. others continue unknown. In captivity, the group to hold the is primarily carnivorous, feeding traditional view that C. on earthworms, fish, beef, and bourreti is conspecific canned dog food, and reportedly on with C. galbinifrons, mushrooms. meaning they are Species Descriptions members of the same Bourret’s, or Central Vietnamese species. The basis for box turtle, Cuora bourreti this opinion is skeletal Named in honor of French her- studies recounted in petologist René Léon Bourret the 2006 paper by Fritz (1884-1957), Bourret’s box turtle et al. Thus, its correct is endemic to northern and central classification would be Vietnam and the adjacent nation C. galbinifrons bourreti. of Laos (officially known as Lao People’s Democratic Republic), and North Vietnamese, or Indochinese box tur- possibly northeast Cambodia. tle, Cuora galbinifrons Bourret’s box turtle typically has a The specific name dark carapace with buff patterning galbinifrons derives or irregular striping on some scutes, from Latin root words Top: The carapace of the Northern Vietnamese box turtle, Cuora although sometimes individuals meaning “yellow-green galbinifrons. Photo © 2007 by Torsten Blanck. Source: Wikimedia have a carapace that is light-col- front” and refers to the Commons; license: CC-BY-SA-3.0,2.5,2.0,1.0. ored overall. general coloration of in- Bottom: The dark plastron of a C. galbinifrons male. Photo © dividuals in the species. 2007 by Torsten Blanck. Source: Wikimedia Commons; license: The plastron of the species is buff CC-BY-SA-3.0. 4 Tortuga Gazette 55(3) • May/June 2019 aquatic. According to a study by related to C. bourreti and C. galbin- Natchev et al. that was published ifrons while differing significantly in 2010, the Indochinese box turtle enough from the others in the com- retains the structures in its tongue, plex to be considered a separate mouth, and jaws that allow aquatic species. feeding as well as terrestrial con- First described in 1998, C. pictur- sumption of food items. ata is often called the Southern Southern Vietnamese, or Lesser Vietnamese box turtle because Indochinese box turtle, Cuora its comparatively small range is picturata located in the mountains in south Vietnam. According Hatchling Southern Vietnamese box turtle. Photo to Ly et al., the species was © 2015 by Ulrich Hennen. Source: Creative Com- known only from Asian food mons; license: CC BY-SA 2.0.
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