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Pyxis arachnoides BELL, 1827

IUCN Red List - Pyxis arachnoides - Critically Endangered, CR
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Higher TaxaTestudinidae, Testudinoidea, Testudines (turtles)
SubspeciesPyxis arachnoides arachnoides BELL 1827
Pyxis arachnoides brygooi VUILLEMIN & DOMERGUE 1972
Pyxis arachnoides oblonga GRAY 1869 
Common NamesE: Madagascan Spider Tortoise
G: Madagassische Spinnenschildkröte
brygooi: Northern Spider Tortoise 
SynonymPyxis arachnoides BELL 1827
Pyxis aranoides GRAY 1831 (nomen subst. pro Pyxis arachnoides BELL)
Pyxis madagascariensis LESSON 1831 (synonymy uncertain)
Pyxis arachnoides — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1835: 156
Pyxis Arachnoides — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1854: 222
Pyxis (Pyxis) arachnoides — KUCHLING 1989
Pyxis arachnoides — ERNST & BARBOUR 1989: 233
Pyxis (Pyxis) arachnoides — GLAW & VENCES 1994: 224
Pyxis arachnoides — FRITZ & BININDA-EMONDS 2007
Pyxis arachnoides arachnoides — TTWG 2021
Pyxis arachnoides — TTWG 2025

Pyxis arachnoides brygooi (VUILLEMIN & DOMERGUE 1972)
Pyxoides brygooi VUILLEMIN & DOMERGUE 1972
Pyxis arachnoides brygooi — WALKER 2010
Pyxis arachnoides brygooi — TTWG 2021

Pyxis arachnoides oblonga GRAY 1869
Pyxis arachnoides var. oblonga GRAY 1869
Pyxis arachnoides matzi BOUR 1978
Pyxis arachnoides oblonga — TTWG 2014: 406
Pyxis arachnoides oblonga — TTWG 2021 
DistributionMadagascar (along the S coast from the Mahajamba River southward around Cape Sainte-Marie almost to Fort-Dauphin)

Type locality: Unknown; designated as "Soalara (Baie de Saint-Augustin), sud-ouest de Madagascar" by Bour 1978:153.

brygooi: SW Madagascar (Mikea Forest). Type locality: “entre Morombe et Tuléar, aux alentours du lac Ihotry, dans la forêt des Mikea”.  
Reproductionoviparous. 
TypesLectotype: OUM 13a (=1092) designated by Bour 1978:153. Paralectotypes: OUM 8528
Holotype: BMNH 1861.3.20.31 [oblonga]
Holotype: MNHN-RA A0277 [brygooi] 
DiagnosisUnfortunately we had to temporarily remove additional information as this was scraped by multiple AI companies who sell that data to their customers. These details, e.g. detailed descriptions or comparisons (about 3838 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentConservation: Threatened.

Subspecies: CHIARI et al. (2005) suggest to treat the three subspecies of Pyxis arachnoides “as a separate entities for conservation” -- whatever that may mean.

Type species: Pyxis arachnoides BELL 1827 is the type species of the genus Pyxis BELL 1827 (non Pyxis CHEMNITZ 1784 = nomen illegitimum: Direction 2, ICZN, 1956; non Pyxis CHEVROLAT 184 = Coleoptera; non Pyxis HERMANNSEN 1848 = Gastropoda; non Pyxis STEFANI 1877 = Lamellibranchiata; following WERMUTH & MERTENS 1977).

Distribution: see map in TTWG 2025. 
EtymologyNamed after Greek arachne = spider, presumably after the pattern on the carapace resembling a spider web.

P. a. brygooi was named after Édouard-Raoul Robert Brygoo (1920-2016), French herpetologist.

P. a. oblonga was named after Latin oblongus = longer than broad.

The genus was apparently named after the Greek pyxis (πυξίς; pl.: pyxides), a vessel used in the classical world, usually a cylindrical box with a separate lid and no handles. 
References
  • Augustine, Lauren and Robin Saunders. 2015. Pyxis arachnoides arachnoides (common spider tortoise) egg shell repair. Herpetological Review 46 (4): 544-545 - get paper here
  • Barley, Shanta and Ryan C.J. Walker 2013. Population Density and Seasonal Detection Rates of a Unique Population of Critically Endangered <br />Northern Madagascar Spider Tortoise (Pyxis arachnoides brygooi). Herp. Cons. Biol. 8 (3) - get paper here
  • Baur, M. 2014. Ernährungsbedingte Erkrankungen bei Landschildkröten. Reptilia (Münster) 19 (105): 58-66
  • Baur, Markus 2013. Zehn Fragen zur Ernährung von Landschildkröten. Draco 13 (54): 68-79 - get paper here
  • Bell, T. 1827. On two new genera of land tortoises. Transactions of the Linnean Society of London 15: 392-401. - 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, R. 1979. Les tortues actuelles de Madagascar (République Malagache): liste systématique et description de deux sous-espèces nouvelles (Reptilia-Testudines). Bulletin de la Société Etude des Sciences Anjou, N.S. 10:141-154 [1978]
  • Caccone, Adalgisa; George Amato; Oliver C. Gratry; John Behler and Jeffrey R. Powell 1999. A Molecular Phylogeny of Four Endangered Madagascar Tortoises Based on MtDNA Sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 12 (1): 1–9 - get paper here
  • Chiari, Y., M. Thomas, M. Pedrono & D.R. Vieites 2005. Preliminary data on genetic differentiation within the Madagascar spider tortoise, Pyxis arachnoides (Bell, 1827). Salamandra 41 (1-2): 35-44 - get paper here
  • Currylow, A. F. 2012. Pyxis arachnoides arachnoides (spider tortoise) drinking behavior. Herpetological Review 43: 608 - 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,C.H. and Barbour,R.W. 1989. Turtles of the World. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C. - London
  • 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
  • Gardner CJ, Raxworthy CJ, Metcalfe K, Raselimanana AP, Smith RJ, Davies ZG 2015. Comparing Methods for Prioritising Protected Areas for Investment: A Case Study Using Madagascar’s Dry Forest Reptiles. PLoS One 10 (7): e0132803, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0132803 - get paper here
  • Gray, J.E. 1869. Notes on the families and genera of tortoises (Testudinata), and on the characters afforded by the study of their skulls. Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1869: 165-225. - get paper here
  • Kuchling, G. 1989. Ökologie, Lebensweise und Überlebenschancen der Landschildkröten Madagaskars. Salamandra 25 (3-4): 169-190 - get paper here
  • Orozco-terWengel, P., Y. Chiari, D.R. Vieites, M. Pedrono & E. Louis, Jr. 2013. Isolation and characterization of six polymorphic microsatellite loci for the Malagasy spider tortoise, Pyxis arachnoides and cross-amplification in Pyxis planicauda Amphibia-Reptilia, 34(1): 125-128. - get paper here
  • Soler, J. & A. Martínez Silvestre 2011. Die Spinnenschildkröte Pyxis arachnoides. Reptilia (Münster) 16 (89): 72-76 - get paper here
  • TTWG [Peter Paul van Dijk, John B. Iverson, Anders G.J. Rhodin, H. Bradley Shaffer, and Roger Bour] 2014. Turtles of the World, 7th Edition: Annotated Checklist of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution with Maps, and Conservation Status. 000.v7. Chelonian Research Monographs (ISSN 1088-7105) No. 5, doi:10.3854/crm.5.000.checklist.v7.2014 - get paper here
  • TTWG [TURTLE TAXONOMY WORKING GROUP: RHODIN, A.G.J., IVERSON, J.B., FRITZ, U., GALLEGO-GARCÍA, N., GEORGES, A., SHAFFER, H.B., AND VAN DuK, P.P.]. 2025. Turtles of the World: Annotated Checklist and Atlas of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution, and Conservation Status (10th 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.). Conservation Biology of Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises: A Compilation Project of the IUCN SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group. Chelonian Research Monographs 10:1-575 - 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.). Conservation Biology of Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises: A Compilation Project of the IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group. Chelonian Research Monographs 8:1–472. doi:10.3854/crm.8.checklist.atlas.v9.2021. - 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. Die Lanschildkröten Afrikas - Vielfalt durch Anpassung an extreme Lebensräume. Reptilia (Münster) 10 (56): 26-28 - 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
  • Vuillemin, Simone & Domergue, Charles 1972. Contribution a l'étude de la fauna de Madagascar: Description de Pyxoides brygooi n. gen. n. sp. (Testudinidae). Annales de l'Université de Madagascar (9): 193-200
  • Walker, Ryan C. J. 2010. The Decline of the Critically Endangered Northern Madagascar Spider Tortoise (Pyxis arachnoides brygooi). Herpetologica 66 (4): 411-417 - get paper here
  • Walker, Ryan C. J. 2011. The Development of a Cost Effective Method for Measuring the Variation of Area in Contrasting Scute Pigmentation in Chelonians. Herp. Cons. Biol. 6 (1) - get paper here
  • Walker, Ryan; Luiselli, Luca; Rafeliarisoa, Tsilavo 2012. Survival probability of a population of Madagascar spider tortoises (Pyxis arachnoides). Amphibia-Reptilia 33 (1): 141-144 - get paper here
  • Walker, Ryan; Rafeliarisoa, Tsilavo; Currylow, Andrea; Rakotoniaina, Jean Claude; Louis Jr, Edward 2014. Short term monitoring reveals the rapid decline of southern Madagascar's Critically Endangered tortoise species. The Herpetological Journal 24 (3): 193-196 - get paper here
 
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