The Yunnan box turtle (''Cuora yunnanensis'') is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

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 Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

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 ...

(formerly Bataguridae). It is believed to be

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

(in

Kunming Kunming (; ), also known as Yunnan-Fu, is the capital and largest city of Yunnan province, China. It is the political, economic, communications and cultural centre of the province as well as the seat of the provincial government. The headquar ...

and

Huize Huize County (, old name: ''Dongchuan 東川'') is a county-level city, under the jurisdiction of Qujing City, Yunnan province, People's Republic of China. Demography The city has grown considerably over the past 20 years. It has 871,200 inhabi ...

) and was suspected to be

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 ...

since the early 20th century; the last verified specimen was collected in 1940. Cuora yunnanensis female plastron

In 2004, a living female appeared from the pet trade in

; one year later, a male from the same source and again one year later another female were found there. The validity of these specimens was doubted and many believed they were intentionally produced hybrids,(see IUCN 2006), a common technique in China to produce turtles that get high prices. In 2007, He ''et al.'' sampled the three living specimens and gave the genetic proof that all three living specimens are indeed ''C. yunnanensis'' and not hybrids. In 2008, Kadoorie Conservation China, a department of

Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden (KFBG) (), formerly known as Kadoorie Experimental and Extension Farm (), or Kadoorie Farm (), was originally set up to aid poor farmers in the New Territories in Hong Kong. It later shifted its focus to promote b ...

, together with the Kunming Institute of Zoology and Chinese Academy of Sciences, discovered a small wild population. The distribution of this species remains unclear, but due to its value, it is heavily sought after. Protection measures are needed to save this probably highly endangered species from its return onto the

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 ...

list of extinct animals.

References

* Blanck, T., Zhou, T. & W. P. McCord (2006): The Yunnan box turtle, Cuora yunnanensis (BOULENGER 1906); historical background and an update on the morphology, distribution and vulnerabilities of the only known living specimens. SACALIA 13 (4), 2006: 14-35 * Blanck, T. (2005): Cuora yunnanensis (BOULENGER, 1906), the Yunnan Box Turtle, Rediscovered after One-hundred Years? CUORA Special - RADIATA 14 (2), 2005: 10-33 * He J.,T. Zhou, Rao D.-Q. & Y.-P. Zhang.2007 Molecular identification and phylogenetic position of Cuora yunnanensis. Chinese Science Bulletin.52(17):2085-2088(in Chinese) * PARHAM, J. F., B. L. STUART, R. BOUR & U. FRITZ. 2004. Evolutionary distinctiveness of the extinct Yunnan box turtle (Cuora yunnanensis) revealed by DNA from an old museum specimen. – Proceedings of the Royal Society of Biology (Supplement), Biological Letters, London, 271: 391-394 + Electronic Appendix A, 6 pp. * ZHOU, T. & E. ZHAO (2004): On the occurrence of living Cuora yunnanensis since fifty-eight years and its description. . Sichuan J. Zool., Chengdu 23 (4): 325-327 + 1 Plate(in Chinese) * ZHOU, T. (2005): Discovery of a Living Male Yunnan Box Turtle, Cuora yunnanensis BOULENGER, 1906. Sichuan J. Zool., Chengdu 24 (3): 345-346 + 1 Plate(in Chinese)

External links

* World Chelonian Trust
''Cuora'' Gallery
Contains ''C. yunnanensis'' museum specimen photos. Retrieved 2007-SEP-01. {{Taxonbar, from=Q301687 Cuora Endemic fauna of Yunnan Reptiles of China Reptiles described in 1906 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot