Pan's box turtle

Pan's box turtle
Pan's box turtle, Cuora pani pani
Conservation status
Critically Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)
CITES Appendix II
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Testudines
Suborder:	Cryptodira
Family:	Geoemydidae
Genus:	Cuora
Species:	C. pani
Binomial name
Cuora pani Song, 1984
Synonyms
Cuora pani Song, 1984 Cuora chriskarannarum Ernst & McCord, 1987 Cuora chriskarannorum [sic] Obst & Reimann, 1994 (ex errore) Cuora pani pani — Artner, 2003 Pyxiclemmys pani pani — Vetter, 2006

Pan's box turtle (Cuora pani) is a species of turtle in the family Geoemydidae (formerly Bataguridae). The yellow-headed box turtle is sometimes included herein as a subspecies (Cuora pani aurocapitata).

The Pan's box turtle is a highly endangered species on the verge of extinction. Each catch of the Pan's box turtle rewards upwards of $10,000 per trade (Turtle Conservancy, 2017).

Plastron

Etymology

The specific name, pani, is probably in honor of Chinese herpetologist Pan Lei.

The common name, Pan's box turtle, refers to its ability to seal itself within its shell.

Geographic range

Cuora pani pani, the nominotypical subspecies, is endemic to the central Chinese provinces of Shaanxi, Sichuan, and Hubei (Blanck & Tang, 2005).

External links

• Listed as Critically Endangered (CR A1d+2d).
• Species Cuora pani at The Reptile Database

Further reading

• Blanck T, Tang M (2005). "Ein neuer Fundort von Cuora pani SONG, 1984 mit Diskussion über den taxonomischen Status von Cuora pani und Cuora aurocapitata". SACALIA 7 (3), 2005: 16-37.
• Song, Ming-tao (1984). "A new species of the turtle genus Cuora (Testudoformes: Testudinidae)". Acta Zootaxonomica Sinica 9 (3): 330-332. (Cuora pani, new species). (in Chinese, with summary in English).