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Cuora galbinifrons BOURRET, 1939

IUCN Red List - Cuora galbinifrons - Critically Endangered, CR
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Higher TaxaGeoemydidae (Geoemydinae), Testudinoidea, Testudines (turtles)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Indochinese Box Turtle
G: Hinterindische Scharnierschildkröte, Dreistreifen-Scharnierschildkröte
Chinese: 黄额闭壳龟 
SynonymCuora galbinifrons BOURRET 1939
Cyclemys flavomarginata hainanensis LI 1958
Cyclemys hainanensis — HU, DJAO & HUANG 1975
Cuora galbinifrons — WERMUTH & MERTENS 1977: 23
Cistoclemmys hainanensis — KING & BURKE 1989
Cuora galbinifrons — ERNST & BARBOUR 1989: 148
Cuora hainanensis — ERNST & BARBOUR 1989: 149
Cuora galbinifrons serrata IVERSON & MCCORD 1992
Cuora serrata — FRITZ & OBST 1997
Cuora galbinifrons galbinifrons — BECKER 1999
Cuora galbinifrons — ZIEGLER 2002: 137
Cistoclemmys galbinifrons galbinifrons — OBST 2003: 17
Cistoclemmys galbinifrons — BONIN et al. 2006
Cuora galbinifrons — NGUYEN et al. 2009
Cuora galbinifrons galbinifrons — LIU et al. 2019
Cuora galbinifrons — TTWG 2021 
DistributionVietnam (Tonkin, Annam), China (Hainan Island, Guangxi)

hainanensis: China (Hainan Island); Type locality: Dali of Diaulo Shan, Hainan, People's Republic of China.

Type locality: Tam-Dao (Tonkin), Bach-Na (Annam) and Linh-Can (Ha-Tinh, Annam).  
Reproductionoviparous. 
TypesLectotype: MNHN-RA 1948.36, fide Bour 2005, erroneously given as MNHN-RA 1948.60 by Obst & Reimann 1994; Paralectotype: MNHN-RA 1948.0037, also the holotype of C. bourreti (previously NUH T54)
Holotype: FU 200 [hainanensis] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (hainanensis): Hu et al. 1972 in Koshikawa 1982.


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CommentSynonymy: Allozyme and mitochondrial DNA data, together with morphological support and field information, provide compelling evidence that Cuora serrata is of hybrid origin with Cuora galbinifrons (bourreti) and Cuora (Pyxidea) mouhotii as parental species (PARHAM et al. 2001). C. g. galbinifrons, bourreti, and picturata are also morphologically diagnosable, and thus STUART & PARHAM (2004) recommend elevating each to full species. Struijk & Blanck 2016 show that C. serrata is a hybrid of C. picturata x Cuora mouhotii obsti.

Illustration in Elaphe 7 (4): 4 and Draco 13 (4): 93 (2003), of bourreti in Elaphe 8 (4): 72.

The status of C. hainanensis remains unclear. See discussion in Zhao & Adler 1993: 166. It is not mentioned in a recent list by OBST (2003). Cuora (galbinifrons) hainanensis nests within the galbinifrons clade, and therefore STUART & PARHAM (2004) consider it as a synonym of C. galbinifrons, as supported by morphology.

Cuora (galbinifrons) ‘‘serrata ’’is known to be a hybrid of male Cuora mouhotii and female C.galbinifrons, and our findings show that C.‘‘serrata ’’originates from both female galbinifrons and bourreti. 
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