You are here » home › advanced search › Kinixys belliana

Kinixys belliana GRAY, 1831

iNaturalist logo

Can you confirm these amateur observations of Kinixys belliana?

Add your own observation of
Kinixys belliana »

Find more photos by Google images search: Google images

Higher TaxaTestudinidae, Testudinoidea, Testudines (turtles)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Bell’s Hingeback Tortoise, Bell's eastern hinged tortoise 
SynonymKinixys belliana GRAY 1831
Cinixys belliana — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1835: 168
Kinixys schoensis RÜPPELL 1845: 226
Cinixys Belliana — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1854: 222
Kinixys belliana — GRAY 1864: 169
Cinixys belliana — BOULENGER 1889
Cinicys belliana — TORNIER 1897: 2 (in error)
Kinixys belliana — SCHMIDT 1919: 406
Kinixys belliana belliana — MERTENS et al. 1934
Kinixys belliana mertensi LAURENT 1956 : 27
Kinixys belliana mertensi — LAURENT 1958: 117
Kinixys belliana — ERNST & BARBOUR 1989: 229
Kinixys belliana belliana — BROADLEY 1993
Kinixys belliana — GLAW & VENCES 1994: 226
Kinixys belliana — FRITZ & BININDA-EMONDS 2007
Kinixys belliana — VAN DIJK et al. 2012: 280
Kinixys cf. belliana — CONRADIE et al. 2016
Kinixys belliana — SPAWLS et al. 2018: 32
Kinixys belliana — TTWG 2021 
DistributionAngola, Burundi, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire), Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Republic of South Sudan (RSS), Sudan (Jumhūriyyat), Uganda, N Tanzania

Type locality: Unknown; "bought at Humphrey's, West Africa" according to label on type (fide KING & BURKE 1989)  
Reproductionoviparous. 
TypesHolotype: BMNH 1979.919.
Holotype: SMF 7719 [schoensis] 
DiagnosisAdditional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (980 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentSynonymy modified after Wermuth & Mertens 1961 and VAN DIJK et al. 2012. Loveridge and Williams 1957 synonymized Kinixys natalensis Hewitt 1935 with Kinixys belliana. K. belliana spekii and K. b. lobatsiana have been elevated to valid species status. Kinixys belliana mertensi is not recognized by MCCORD et al. (2005). Kindler et al. (2012) considered Kinixys belliana domerguei as a synonym of K. (b.) zombensis because of very small genetic differences.

Distribution: after VAN DIJK et al. 2012, TTWG 2014: 402; see map in Kindler et al. 2012 (supplement). 
EtymologyNamed after Thomas Bell (1792-1880), a British naturalist and dental surgeon who worked at Guy's Hospital, London (1816-1860). He became Professor of Zoology at King's College (1834) and described many ofthe reptiles Darwin collected. He was a friend ofGray and President of the Linnean Society (Beolens et al. 2011).  
References
  • Barnett, Linda K. & Emms, Craig 2005. Common reptiles of The Gambia. Rare Repro, Hailsham, East Sussex, 24 pp.
  • Behangana, Mathias; Richard Magala, Raymond Katumba, David Ochanda, Stephen Kigoolo, Samuel Mutebi, Daniele Dendi,, Luca Luiselli, and Daniel F. Hughes 2020. Herpetofaunal diversity and community structure in the Murchison Falls-Albert Delta Ramsar site, Uganda: Herpetofaunal diversity. European Journal of Ecology, 6(2)
  • Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA - get paper here
  • Blanford, W.T. 1870. Observations of the geology and zoology of Abyssinia, made 1867-68. McMillan (London), xii + 487 pp. - get paper here
  • Bonin, F., Devaux, B. & Dupré, A. 2006. Turtles of the World. English translation by P.C.H. Pritchard. Johns Hopkins University Press, 416 pp.
  • Bour, Roger 2006. Le genre Kinixys Bell: histoire nomenclaturale et taxinomique. Chéloniens 3:8-15.
  • Bourquin, O. 2009. Reptiles (Reptilia) in KwaZulu-Natal: I - diversity and distribution. Durban Museum Novitates 29: 57-103
  • Branch, W.R.; Rödel, M.-O. & Marais, J. 2005. Herpetological survey of the Niassa Game Reserve, northern Mozambique - Part I: Reptiles. Salamandra 41 (4): 195-214 - get paper here
  • Branch, William R. 1993. A Photographic Guide to Snakes and Other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Cape Town: Struik Publishers, 144 S.
  • Broadley, D. G. & HOWELL, K. M. 1991. A check list of the reptiles of Tanzania, with synoptic keys. Syntarsus 1: 1—70
  • Broadley, D.G. 1962. On some reptile collections from the North-Western and North-Eastern Districts of Southern Rhodesia 1958-1961, with descriptions of four new lizards. Occ. Pap. Nat. Mus. South. Rhodesia 26 (B): 787-843
  • Broadley, D.G. 1993. A review of the southern African species of Kinixys Bell (Reptilia: Testudinidae). Annals Transvaal Museum 36 (6): 41-52 - get paper here
  • Broadley, D.G. 1997. Osteological characters of the shell and humerus in hinged tortoises of the African genus Kinixys. Chelonian Conserv. Biol. 2 (4): 526-531
  • Broadley, D.G. 1998. The reptilian fauna of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Congo-Kinshasa). In: Schmidt, K.P. and Noble, G.K., Contributions to the Herpetology of the Belgian Congo... [reprint of the 1919 and 1923 papers]. SSAR Facsimile reprints in Herpetology, 780 pp.
  • Broadley,D.G. 1992. The Savannah species of Kinixys (Testudinidae). J. Herp. Assoc. Africa 40: 12-13 - get paper here
  • Butler, B O; Ceríaco, L M P; Marques, M P; Bandeira, S; Júlio, T; Heinicke, M P & Bauer, A M; 2019. Herpetological survey of Huíla Province, Southwest Angola, including first records of Bicuar National Park. Herpetological Review 50 (2): 225-240 - get paper here
  • Chirio, L. & Lebreton, M. 2007. Atlas des reptiles du Cameroun. MNHN, IRD, Paris 688 pp.
  • Christoph, Gunter. 2007. On the husbandry and breeding of the West African Hinge-backed Tortoise, Kinixys belliana, in the German-speaking part of Europe: An analysis of experience reports. Radiata 16(4):2-10
  • Chubb, E.C. 1908. List of Batrachia and Reptilia collected in Northern Matabeleland. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (8) 1: 218-221 - get paper here
  • Conradie W and Branch WR. 2016. The herpetofauna of the Cubango, Cuito, and lower Cuando river catchments of south-eastern Angola. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 10 (2) [Special Section]: 6–36 - get paper here
  • Conradie W, Keates C, Verburgt L, Baptista NL, Harvey J, Júlio T, Neef G. 2022. Contributions to the herpetofauna of the Angolan Okavango-Cuando-Zambezi River drainages. Part 2: Lizards (Sauria), chelonians, and crocodiles. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 16(2): 181–214 (e322) - get paper here
  • Duerden, J.E. 1906. South African tortoises of the genus Homopus, with description of a new species. Records of the Albany Museum 1: 405-411 - get paper here
  • Duméril, A. M.C., G. BIBRON & A. DUMÉRIL 1854. Erpétologie générale ou Histoire Naturelle complète des Reptiles. Vol. 9. Paris, XX + 440 S. - get paper here
  • Duméril, A.M.C., and G. Bibron. 1835. Erpétologie Générale ou Histoire Naturelle Complète des Reptiles, Vol. 2. Librairie Encyclopédique de Roret, Paris, iv + 680 p. - get paper here
  • Ernst R, Lautenschläger T, Branquima MF, Hölting M 2020. At the edge of extinction: a first herpetological assessment of the proposed Serra do Pingano Rainforest National Park in Uíge Province, northern Angola. Zoosystematics and Evolution 96(1): 237-262 - get paper here
  • Ernst,C.H. and Barbour,R.W. 1989. Turtles of the World. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C. - London
  • Fritz, U., Tolley, K. A., Vamberger, M., & Ihlow, F. 2022. Phylogeny and phylogeography of chelonians from sub-Saharan Africa—A review of current knowledge in tribute to Margaretha D. Hofmeyr. Vertebrate Zoology, 72: 951-969 - get paper here
  • Fritz, Uwe and Olaf R.P. Bininda-Emonds 2007. When genes meet nomenclature: Tortoise phylogeny and the shifting generic concepts of Testudo and Geochelone. Zoology 110 (4): 298-307 [erratum in vol. 111 (1): 84] - get paper here
  • Gans, C.; LAURENT, R.F. & PANDIT, H. 1965. Notes on a herpetological collection from the Somali Republic. Ann. Mus. Roy. Afr. Centr., Sér. 8vo, Tervuren, (80) Zool., (134): 1-93
  • Glaw ,F. & Vences, M. 1994. A Fieldguide to the Amphibians and Reptiles of Madagascar. Vences & Glaw Verlag, Köln (ISBN 3-929449-01-3)
  • Gorseman, P. 1980. Opmerkingen over biotoop en voortplanting van Homopus areolatus. Lacerta 38 (10-11): 107-111 - get paper here
  • Gray, J. E. 1831. Synopsis Reptilium or short descriptions of the species of reptiles. Part I: Cataphracta, tortoises, crocodiles, and enaliosaurians. Treuttel, Wurz & Co., London, 85 pp. - get paper here
  • Gray,J.E. 1864. On the species of the genus Sternothaerus, with some observations on Kinixys. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (3) 13: 165-170 - get paper here
  • Håkansson,N.T. 1981. An annotated checklist of reptiles known to occur in the Gambia. Journal of Herpetology 15 (2): 155-161 - get paper here
  • Harvan, Marek. 2007. The genus Kinixys. Radiata 16(4):11-27
  • Hellmich, W. 1957. Herpetologische Ergebnisse einer Forschungsreise in Angola. Veröff. Zool. Staatssammlung München 5: 1-91 - get paper here
  • Hewitt, J. 1931. Descriptions of some African tortoises. Annals of the Natal Museum Pietermaritzburg. 6: 461-506.
  • Hoogmoed, M.S. 1979. Herpetologische waarnemingen in Ghana [part 1 - introduction]. Lacerta 37 (10-11): 164-168 - get paper here
  • Hughes, B. 1986. Longevity Records of African Captive Amphibians and Reptiles: Part 1: Introduction and Species List 1 - Amphibians and Chelonians. J. Herp. Assoc. Africa (32): 1-5 - get paper here
  • JACOBSEN, N.H.G. 2009. A contribution to the herpetofauna of the Passendro Area, Central African Republic. African Herp News (47): 2-20 - get paper here
  • Jacobsen, Niels H.G.; Errol W. Pietersen & Darren W. Pietersen 2010. A preliminary herpetological survey of the Vilanculos Coastal Wildlife Sanctuary on the San Sebastian Peninsula, Vilankulo, Mozambique. Herpetology Notes 3: 181-193
  • Kindler, Carolin; William R. Branch, Margaretha D. Hofmeyr, Jérôme Maran, Pavel Sˇiroky ́, Miguel Vences, James Harvey, J. Susanne Hauswaldt, Alfred Schleicher, Heiko Stuckas and Uwe Fritz 2012. Molecular phylogeny of African hinge-back tortoises (Kinixys): implications for phylogeography and taxonomy (Testudines: Testudinidae). J Zool Syst Evol Res - get paper here
  • Kuchling, G. 1989. Ökologie, Lebensweise und Überlebenschancen der Landschildkröten Madagaskars. Salamandra 25 (3-4): 169-190 - get paper here
  • Kwet, A. 2012. Aus eins mach drei: zwei neue Arten bei den afrikanischen Gelenkschildkröten. Terraria-Elaphe 2012 (4): 58-59 - get paper here
  • Lanza, B., and A. Sassi 1966. Le testuggini terrestri e d’acqua dolce della Somalia (Reptilia Testudines). Monitore Zoologico Italiano, 2 (supplemento): 257-272 - get paper here
  • Largen, M.J.; Spawls, S. 2010. Amphibians and Reptiles of Ethiopia and Eritrea. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt, 694 pp.
  • Laurent, R.F. 1956. Contribution à l'herpetologie de la région des Grandes Lacs de l'Afrique centrale. Ann. Mus. Roy. Congo Belge (Sci. Zool.), 48: 1-390
  • Laurent, R.F. 1958. Notes herpétologiques africaines II. Rev. Zool. Bot. Afr., 58 (1–2): 115–128
  • Laurent, R.F. 1962. On the races of Kinixys belliana Gray. Breviora (176): 1-6 - get paper here
  • Loveridge, A. 1953. Zoological Results of a fifth expedition to East Africa. III. Reptiles from Nyasaland and Tete. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard 110 (3): 142-322. - get paper here
  • Loveridge, Arthur & Williams, Ernest E. 1957. Revision of the African Tortoises and Turtles of the Suborder Cryptodira. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard 115 (6): 163-557 - get paper here
  • Luiselli, Luca 2006. Espéces de Cinixyx sympatriques au sud du Nigeria. Chéloniens 3:40-41.
  • Malonza, Patrick K.; David M. Mulwa, Joash O. Nyamache, Georgina Jones 2017. Biogeography of the Shimba Hills ecosystem herpetofauna in Kenya. Zoological Research 38(5): 1-11 - get paper here
  • Marques MP, Parrinha D, Lopes-Lima M, Tiutenko A, Bauer AM, Ceríaco LMP 2024. An island in a sea of sand: a first checklist of the herpetofauna of the Serra da Neve inselberg, southwestern Angola. ZooKeys 1201: 167-217 - get paper here
  • Marques, Mariana P.; Luis M. P. Ceríaco , David C. Blackburn , and Aaron M. Bauer 2018. Diversity and Distribution of the Amphibians and Terrestrial Reptiles of Angola -- Atlas of Historical and Bibliographic Records (1840–2017). Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. (Ser. 4) 65: 1-501 (Supplement II)
  • MARSCHALL, A. & G. MARSCHALL 1993. Erfahrungen bei der Haltung und Nachzucht der Glattrand - Gelenkschildkröte Kinixys belliana GRAY, 1831. Sauria 15 (2): 9-13 - get paper here
  • Meek, Seth Eugene;Cory, Charles B. 1910. Batrachians and reptiles from British East Africa. Publication of the Field Museum of Natural history 7 (11): 403-414 - get paper here
  • Mertens, R. 1967. Die herpetologische Sektion des Natur-Museums und Forschungs-Institutes Senckenberg in Frankfurt am Main nebst einem Verzeichnis ihrer Typen. Senckenbergiana Biologica 48: 1-106 - get paper here
  • Mill, Ernst. 2015. Ein Erfahrungsbericht zur Haltung, Zucht und Situation der Pantherschildkröte (Stigmochelys pardalis) und der Nordostafrikanischen Gelenkschildkröte (Kinixys belliana) in Äthiopien Teil II. Radiata 24 (2): 4-23
  • Mill, Ernst. 2015. Ein Erfahrungsbericht zur Haltung, Zucht und Situation der Pantherschildkröte (Stigmochelys pardalis) und der Nordostafrikanischen Gelenkschildkröte (Kinixys belliana) in Äthiopien Teil I. Radiata 24 (1): 4-66
  • Mislin, Viktor and Gabriela Eberling. 2007. Husbandry of Kinixys belliana belliana Gray, 1831 from Madagascar during the period 2000 through 2006. Radiata 16(4):28-31
  • Pawlik, K. 2012. Chamäleon-Urlaub – eine Madagaskar-Reise. Reptilia (Münster) 17 (96): 103-109 - get paper here
  • Pietersen, Darren, Verburgt, Luke & Davies, John 2021. Snakes and other reptiles of Zambia and Malawi. Struik Nature / Penguin Random House South Africa, 376 pp., ISBN 9781775847373
  • Robertson, I. A. D., B. M. Chapman and N. F. Chapman 1963. Notes on some reptiles collected in the Rukwa Valley, S. W. Tanganyika. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. Ser. 13, 5(55): 421‑432 - get paper here
  • Rüppell, E. 1845. Beschreibung und Abbildung einer neuen Art von Landschildkröten, zur Gattung Kinyxis gehörig. Mus. Senckenbergianum 3 (3): 223
  • Sachsse, W. 1980. Zur Biologie und Fortpflanzung von Kinixys belliana nogueyi (Reptilia: Testudines: Testudinidae). Salamandra 16 (4): 252-260 - get paper here
  • Samuels, M. 2000. Exotic Amblyomma nutalli ticks identified on tortoises in Tucson, Arizona. Sonoran Herpetologist 13 (4):41. - get paper here
  • Schmidt, Karl Patterson 1919. Contributions to the Herpetology of the Belgian Congo based on the Collection of the American Congo Expedition, 1909-1915. Part I: turtles, crocodiles, lizards, and chamaeleons. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 39 (2): 385-624 - get paper here
  • Siebenrock, F. 1916. Schildkröten aus dem nördlichen Seengebiet und von Belgisch-Kongo. In: Wissenschaftliche Ergebnisse der Expedition R. Grauer nach Zentralafrika, Dezember 1909 bis Februar 1911. Annalen des K.K. Naturhistorischen Hofmuseums Wien 30: 1-12 - get paper here
  • Spawls, S.; Howell, K.; Drewes, R.C. & Ashe, J. 2002. A field guide to the reptiles of East Africa. Academic Press, 543 pp. [reviews in HR 34: 396 and Afr. J. Herp. 51; 147] - get paper here
  • Spawls, Stephen; Tomáš Mazuch & Abubakr Mohammad 2023. Handbook of Amphibians and Reptiles of North-east Africa. Bloomsbury, 640 pp. - get paper here
  • Spawls, Steve; Kim Howell, Harald Hinkel, Michele Menegon 2018. Field Guide to East African Reptiles. Bloomsbury, 624 pp. - get paper here
  • Thieme, U. 2004. Herpetologische Beobachtungen und anderes aus Gambia. Reptilia (Münster) 9 (49): 43-48 [erratum in 9 (6): 17] - get paper here
  • Tornier,G. 1897. Die Kriechthiere Deutsch-Ostafrikas. Beiträge zur Systematik und Descendenzlehre. D. Reimer, Berlin, 164 pp. - get paper here
  • Trape, J.F.; Trape, S. & Chirio, L. 2012. Lézards, crocodiles et tortues d'Afrique occidentale et du Sahara. IRD Orstom, 503 pp. - get paper here
  • TTWG; Rhodin, A.G.J., Iverson, J.B., Bour, R., Fritz, U., Georges, A., Shaffer, H.B., and van Dijk, P.P. 2021. Turtles of the World: Annotated Checklist and Atlas of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution, and Conservation Status (9th Ed.). In: Rhodin, A.G.J., Iverson, J.B., van Dijk, P.P., Stanford, C.B., Goode, E.V., Buhlmann, K.A., and Mittermeier, R.A. (Eds.). Chelonian Research Monographs 8:1–472. doi:10.3854/crm.8.checklist.atlas.v9.2021. - get paper here
  • Ullenbruch, K.; Grell, O.; Böhme, W. 2010. Reptiles from southern Benin, West Africa, with the description of a new Hemidactylus (Gekkonidae), and a country-wide checklist. Bonn Zool. Bull. 57 (1): 31-54 - get paper here
  • Valverde, J. 2005. Afrikanische Landschildkröten. Reptilia (Münster) 10 (56): 18-25 - get paper here
  • Valverde, J. 2005. African Tortoises. Reptilia (GB) (43): 12-20 - get paper here
  • Vinke, T. & Vinke, S. 2005. The tortoises of Africa. Diversity through adaptation to extreme habitats. Reptilia (GB) (43): 21-25 - get paper here
  • Vinke, T. & Vinke, S. 2005. Die Lanschildkröten Afrikas - Vielfalt durch Anpassung an extreme Lebensräume. Reptilia (Münster) 10 (56): 26-28 - get paper here
  • XU, Yan; Qin LIU, Edward A MYERS, , Lian WANG, Song HUANG, Yun HE,Peihao PENG and Peng GUO 2012. Molecular Phylogeny of the Genus Gloydius (Serpentes: Crotalinae). Asian Herpetological Research 3 (2): 127–132 - get paper here
 
External links  
Is it interesting? Share with others:


Please submit feedback about this entry to the curator