Southern Vietnamese box turtle

Southern Vietnamese box turtle
Southern Vietnamese box turtle Cuora (galbinifrons) picturata
Conservation status
Critically Endangered  (IUCN 2.3)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Sauropsida
Order:	Testudines
Suborder:	Cryptodira
Superfamily:	Testudinoidea
Family:	Geoemydidae
Subfamily:	Geoemydinae
Genus:	Cuora
Species:	C. picturata
Binomial name
Cuora picturata Lehr, Fritz & Obst, 1998
Synonyms
Cistoclemmys picturata Cuora galbinifrons picturata

The Southern Vietnamese box turtle (Cuora picturata) is endemic to the southern mountainous regions of Vietnam, and possibly also occurring in extreme eastern Cambodia and southern Laos. This species was initially described as a subspecies of Cuora galbinifrons, but was shown to be genetically distinct.^[1] This is the same for Cuora galbinifrons bourreti, which is much closer related to Cuora galbinifrons, though, in osteology, genetics and morphology than is Cuora picturata to either one. Thus, this variety probably truly deserved species status. This species has the highest-domed carapace of all Cuora species, the shape resembling a conquistador helmet. While the head coloration of Cuora galbinifrons subspecies is highly variable even in different populations, this is not the case with C. picturata, whose head is always yellow with a fine, greyish reticulation.

References

• Lehr, E., Fritz, U., Obst, F.J., 1998. Die Unterarten von Cuora galbinifrons Bourret, 1939. Zool. Abh. Mus. Tierk. Dresden, 50: 77-97.

Turtle family Geoemydidae
Genus	Species of the family Geoemydidae
Batagur	Burmese roofed turtle Northern river terrapin Painted terrapin Red-crowned roofed turtle Southern river terrapin Three-striped roofed turtle
Cuora	Amboina box turtle Bourret's box turtle Indochinese box turtle McCord's box turtle Keeled box turtle Pan's box turtle Southern Vietnamese box turtle Chinese three-striped box turtle Yellow-headed box turtle Yellow-margined box turtle Yunnan box turtle Zhou's box turtle
Cyclemys	Asian leaf turtle Assam leaf turtle Eastern black-bridged leaf turtle Enigmatic leaf turtle Myanmar brown leaf turtle Oldham's leaf turtle Western black-bridged leaf turtle
Geoclemys	Black pond turtle
Geoemyda	Black-breasted leaf turtle Ryukyu black-breasted leaf turtle
Hardella	Brahminy river turtle
Heosemys	Arakan forest turtle Giant Asian pond turtle Spiny turtle Yellow-headed temple turtle
Leucocephalon	Sulawesi forest turtle
Malayemys	Malayan snail-eating turtle Mekong snail-eating turtle
Mauremys	Balkan pond turtle Caspian turtle Chinese pond turtle Chinese stripe-necked turtle Japanese pond turtle Red-necked pond turtle Spanish pond turtle Vietnamese pond turtle Yellow pond turtle
Melanochelys	Indian black turtle Tricarinate hill turtle
Morenia	Burmese eyed turtle Indian eyed turtle
Notochelys	Malayan flat-shelled turtle
Orlitia	Malaysian giant turtle
Pangshura	Assam roofed turtle Brown roofed turtle Indian roofed turtle Indian tent turtle
Rhinoclemmys	Black river turtle Brown wood turtle Colombian wood turtle Furrowed wood turtle Large-nosed wood turtle Maracaibo wood turtle Mexican spotted wood turtle Painted wood turtle Spot-legged turtle
Sacalia	Beal's eyed turtle Four-eyed turtle
Siebenrockiella	Black marsh turtle Philippine forest turtle
Vijayachelys	Cane turtle
Phylogenetic arrangement based on turtles of the world 2011 update: annotated checklist.