McCord's box turtle

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 (born 1950).

Taxonomy

Originally described by American herpetologist in 1988 from a specimen obtained from the Chinese pet trade, Cuora mccordi lacked geographic range data for 19 years until Chinese herpetologist 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

Cuora 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 straight carapace length, specimens of McCord's box turtle of up to straight carapace length are known now.

References

Bibliography

• (1988). "Cuora mccordi, a new Chinese box turtle from Guangxi Province". Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 101: 466–470.
• (2007). "Checklist of Chelonians of the World". Vertebrate Zoology 57 (2): 217.
• (2007a). "A survey of captive population dynamics for six endemic Chinese Box Turtle species". Sichuan Journal of Zoology, Chengdu 26 (2): 448–450.
• (2007). "Chelonian species diversity and current status in China". Sichuan Journal of Zoology 26 (2): 464–467. (in Chinese)
• (2007b). "Endemic Chinese box turtles". China Nature (2): 20–22. (in Chinese)
• (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.