Bourret's box turtle explained

Bourret's box turtle (Cuora bourreti), also known commonly as the central Vietnamese flowerback box turtle and the Indochinese box turtle, is a species of turtle in the family Geoemydidae. The species is endemic to Southeast Asia.

Geographic range

C. bourreti is found in central Vietnam and adjacent Laos.

Habitat

The preferred natural habitat of C. bourreti is forest, at altitudes of 300-.

Description

C. bourreti may attain a straight-line carapace length of 20cm (10inches). Adult females and adult males are about the same size. Hatchlings have a straight-line carapace length of 4.5-.

Taxonomy

Although Stuart and Parham (2004) argued that C. bourreti was quite distinct, possibly enough to justify its elevation to a full species, osteologic studies have shown that it probably better remains as a subspecies of C. galbinifrons. This is further substantiated by the finding of intergradation zones in north-central Vietnam, where hybrid populations of C. g. galbinifrons and C. g. bourreti are known to exist.

Etymology

C. bourreti is named in honor of French herpetologist René Léon Bourret.^[1]

In captivity

The Vietnamese press has reported successful breeding of C. bourreti at a turtle farm in Dak Lak, Vietnam by a pharmacist who studied in France.

Two Bourret's box turtles hatched at the National Zoo in the United States on 12 June 2017.^[2]

Further reading

• Fritz U, Petzold A, Auer M (2006). "Osteology in the Cuora galbinifrons complex suggests conspecifity of C. bourreti and C. galbinifrons, with notes on shell osteology and phalangeal formulae within the Geoemydidae". Amphibia- Reptilia 27 (2): 195–205.
• Fritz U, Ziegler T, Herrmann H-W, Lehr E (2002). "Intergradation between subspecies of Cuora galbinifrons Bourret, 1939 and Pyxidea mouhotii (Gray, 1862) in southern North Vietnam". Faunistiche Abhandlungen Staatliches Museum für Tierkunde Dresden 23 (3): 59–74.
• Obst FJ, Reimann M (1994). "Bemerkenswerte Variabilität bei Cuora galbinifrons Bourret, 1939, mit Beschreibung einer neuen geographischen Unterart: Cuora galbinifrons bourreti subsp. nov." Zoologische Abhandlungen, Staatliches Museum für Tierkunde Dresden 48: 125–138. (Cuora galbinifrons bourreti, new subspecies). (in German).
• Stuart BL, Parham JF (2004). "Molecular phylogeny of the critically endangered Indochinese box turtle (Cuora galbinifrons)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 31: 164–177. (Cuora bourreti, new status).

Notes and References

1. [Richard Allen "Bo" Crombet-Beolens|Beolens B]
2. https://nationalzoo.si.edu/news/critically-endangered-bourrets-box-turtles-hatch-smithsonians-national-zoo "Critically endangered Bourret's box turtles hatch at the Smithsonian's National Zoo"