The Chinese stripe-necked turtle (''Mauremys sinensis'') or golden thread turtle, is a species of

turtle Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked tu ...

in the family

Geoemydidae The Geoemydidae (formerly known as Bataguridae) are one of the largest and most diverse families in the order Testudines (turtles), with about 70 species. The family includes the Eurasian pond and river turtles and Neotropical wood turtles. Memb ...

. Like many other Geoemydidae, this species hybridizes vigorously with related and not-so-closely related members of its family. It is one of the two most commonly found species used for

divination Divination (from Latin ''divinare'', 'to foresee, to foretell, to predict, to prophesy') is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic, standardized process or ritual. Used in various forms throughout histor ...

that have been recovered from

Shang dynasty The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty founded by Tang of Shang (Cheng Tang) that ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and ...

sites, despite the Shang capital being over 1000 km north of its modern-day distribution range.Keightley (1979), see especially pp. 160, 189-194.

Description

Chinese-stripe-necked turtles have a green body. As a juvenile, its carapace is grayish green and there are three distinctive ridges. As an adult, the color fades to a brown color and the two ridges gradually disappear. The plastron is ivory in color with small black spots. The male's tail is more coarse and long, while adult females will be larger than the males.

Habitat

Chinese stripe-necked turtles prefer lowland waters such as ponds, canals, and slow-moving rivers.

Distribution

The Chinese stripe-necked turtle is found in China (

Hainan Hainan (, ; ) is the smallest and southernmost province of the People's Republic of China (PRC), consisting of various islands in the South China Sea. , the largest and most populous island in China,The island of Taiwan, which is slightly l ...

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capi ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

and northern & central

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

Conservation

Chinese stripe-necked turtles are protected by the

CITES CITES (shorter name for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of interna ...

and

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

, captive-breeding Chinese stripe-necked turtles are approved. Another reason that affects its population is the invasion of

red-eared slider The red-eared slider or red-eared terrapin (''Trachemys scripta elegans'') is a subspecies of the pond slider (''Trachemys scripta''), a semiaquatic turtle belonging to the family Emydidae. It is the most popular pet turtle in the United States, ...

s. In

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...

and

and in some other countries, it is a popular pet turtle.

Hybridization

captivity Captivity, or being held captive, is a state wherein humans or other animals are confined to a particular space and prevented from leaving or moving freely. An example in humans is imprisonment. Prisoners of war are usually held in captivity by a ...

, hybrids have been produced between this species and ''

Japanese pond turtle The Japanese pond turtle (''Mauremys japonica''), also called commonly the Japanese pond terrapin and the Japanese pond tortoise, is a species of turtle in the family Geoemydidae endemic to Japan. Its Japanese name is ''nihon ishigame'', Japane ...

'', (Mauremys japonica) and the

Chinese pond turtle ''Mauremys reevesii'', commonly known as the Chinese pond turtle, the Chinese three-keeled pond turtle, or Reeves' turtle, is a species of turtle in the family Geoemydidae, a family which was formerly called Bataguridae. The species is native t ...

, (Mauremys sinensis) as well as with a male '' Cyclemys (oldhami) shanensis''. The supposed species ''

Ocadia glyphistoma ''"Mauremys" glyphistoma'' is a hybrid turtle in the family Geoemydidae (formerly Bataguridae). Originally described as a new species supposedly endemic to Guangxi/China; it was classified as Data Deficient in the IUCN Red List. It is known o ...

'' is a hybrid between a male ''M. sinensis'' and a female

Vietnamese pond turtle The Vietnamese pond turtle or Annam leaf turtle (''Mauremys annamensis'') is a species of turtle in the family (biology), family Geoemydidae. It can be distinguished from its relatives by its color pattern: the head is dark with three or four ye ...

, (Mauremys annamensis) a species nearly

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

in the wild. ''

Ocadia philippeni Philippen's striped turtle, ''"Mauremys" philippeni'', has recently shown to be an intergeneric hybrid (Stuart & Parham, 2006) between a male '' Mauremys sinensis'' and a female '' Cuora trifasciata''. The "species" is known only from a handf ...

'' was also shown to be of hybrid origin, a male ''M. sinensis'' with a female ''

Cuora trifasciata __NOTOC__ The golden coin turtle or Chinese three-striped box turtle (''Cuora trifasciata'') is a species of turtle endemic to southern China. Distribution The species is distributed in China, but only on the island of Hainan (it is extirpated fr ...

''. Both are either naturally occurring or bred for the pet trade. Any individuals that are available as pets therefore need to be kept separate from other members of the family to prevent hybridization.

Reproduction

After mating, the female turtle may lay 5-20 eggs that hatch about 60 days when needed.

Footnotes

References

* (2005): On the hybridisation between two distantly related Asian turtles (Testudines: ''Sacalia'' × ''Mauremys''). ''

Salamandra ''Salamandra'' is a genus of seven species of salamanders localized in central and southern Europe, Northern Africa, and western Asia. List of species References External links Salamandraat Fauna Europaea * Salamandraat Animal Diversity W ...

'' 41: 21–26
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* Keightley (1979): ''Sources of Shang History: The Oracle-Bone Inscriptions of Bronze Age China''. David N. Keightley. University of California Press. 1979. * Spinks, Phillip Q.; Shaffer, Bradley H.; Iverson, John B. & McCord, William P. (2004) : "Phylogenetic hypotheses for the turtle family Geomydidae". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 32, 164–182. Academic Press, Cambridge:MA. {{Taxonbar, from=Q1124688 Mauremys Reptiles described in 1870 Reptiles of China Reptiles of Taiwan Reptiles of Vietnam Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Critically endangered fauna of China