Cuora mouhotii (Keeled Box Turtle)
The common name of this Freshwater Turtle in English is commonly called Keeled Box Turtle, Jagged-shelled Turtle, Keel-backed Terrapin and Thai name called เต่าจัน (Dtao Jan).
เต่าจัน : Cuora mouhotii (Gray, 1862)
Cuora mouhotii is a species of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle Genus (Cuora) within the Freshwater Pond Turtle Family (Geoemydidae), Superfamily Testudinoidea, in the Suborder Cryptodira, in the Turtles Order (Testudines), in the Reptile Class (Reptilia), in the Chordate Phylum (Chordata) in the Animal Kingdom (Animalia).
Published in Gray, J.E. Notice of a new species of Cyclemys from the Lao Mountains, in Siam. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (3) 10: 157. (1862).
Subspecies
- Cuora mouhotii mouhotii (Gray, 1862)
- Cuora mouhotii obsti Fritz, Andreas & Lehr, 1998
Traditionally placed in the monotypic genus Pyxidea until Honda et al. (2002) demonstrated that mouhotii is genetically nested inside Cuora.
Hybrids of C. mouhotii with Cuora galbinifrons or C. bourreti gave rise to specimens that were erroneously described as a separate species, Cuora serrata.
Geographic Range
The range of Cuora mouhotii occurs in scattered, disjunct occurrences in northeast India, northern Myanmar, southern China (Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Hunan?, Yunnan, Fujian?), Lao PDR, and Viet Nam.
It is widely reported to occur in Thailand (Nutaphand 1979) but never confirmed.
Cuora m. mouhotii occurs in northern Lao PDR, northern Viet Nam and southern China (Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Hunan, Yunnan).
Cuora m. obsti is only known from central Viet Nam and possibly adjoining Lao PDR.
The taxonomic identity of the populations inhabiting southeastern Bangladesh, northeastern India (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram (Ahmed and Das 2010)), northern Myanmar, and possibly in Bhutan, remains unclear; they have traditionally been attributed to C. m. mouhotii. Elevation in Hainan is 350–1,200 m asl.
Habitat and Ecology
Cuora mouhotii inhabits mainly tropical moist evergreen forests with low undergrowth and leaf litter, but it has also been recorded from lowland swamp areas.
Its general distribution pattern appears to be correlated with limestone/karst topography (Stuart et al. 2001). It reaches up to 18 cm CL (Das 1991).
Females produce small clutches of 4–6 eggs (Brägger 2001). In China, under agriculture conditions, it is reported to lay 2–4 eggs per clutch (Shi and Parham 2011).
Generation length is estimated at 25 years (age of first reproduction = 10 years, longevity = 50 years, reproductive period = 40 years, z = 0.3). Three generations is 75 years.
Type locality: "Lao Mountains, in Siam," presumably the Luang Prabang mountain range on the border between Thailand and Laos.
Cuora mouhotii is utilised for food locally. It has been reported to be exported to the USA and Europe for the pet trade where they are commonly bred.
Synonym
- Cyclemys mouhotii John Edward Gray (1862)
- Pyxidea mouhotii John Edward Gray (1863)
- Pyxidea mouhotii John Edward Gray (1864)
- Emys mouhotii Alexander Strauch (1865)
- Cyclemys mouhoti George Albert Boulenger (1890)
- Pyxidea mouhoti Malcolm Arthur Smith (1931)
- Emys mouhoti René Léon Bourret (1941)
- Pyxidea mouboti Smith & James (1958)
- Geoemyda mouhoti Samuel Booker McDowell (1964)
- Cyclemys mouheti Benoy Krishna Tikader & Ramesh Chandra Sharma (1985)
- Cuora serrata John B. Iverson & William Patrick McCord (1992)
- Cyclemys mouhotii Xiangkui (1994)
- Geoemyda mouhotii Harald Artner (1995)
- Pyxidea mouhotii Indraneil Das (1996)
- Pyxidea mouhotii mouhotii Fritz, Andreas & Lehr (1998)
- Pyxidea mouhotii obsti Fritz, Andreas & Lehr (1998)
- Cuora mouhotii obsti Fritz, Andreas & Lehr (1998)
- Pyxidea mouhotti Jakob Hallermann, L. Dirksen & Uetz (1999)
- Pyxidea mouhotti obsti Jakob Hallermann, L. Dirksen & Uetz (1999)
- Pyxidea mouhotii Thomas Ziegler (2002)
- Cuora mouhotii mouhotii Harald Artner (2003)
- Cuora mouhotii obsti Harald Artner (2003)
- Pyxidea mouhotii William Patrick McCord & Mehdi Joseph-Ouni (2003)
- Cuora mouhotii Bryan L. Stuart & J.F. Parham (2004)
- Pyxidea mouhotii T.S.N. Murthy (2010)
- Cuora mouhotii obsti Turtle Taxonomy Working Group (TTWG) (2014)