You are here » home › advanced search › search results › Pyxis planicauda

Pyxis planicauda (GRANDIDIER, 1867)

IUCN Red List - Pyxis planicauda - Critically Endangered, CR
iNaturalist logo

Can you confirm these amateur observations of Pyxis planicauda?

Add your own observation of
Pyxis planicauda »

Find more photos by Google images search: Google images

Higher TaxaTestudinidae, Testudinoidea, Testudines (turtles)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Madagascan Flat-tailed Tortoise 
SynonymTestudo planicauda GRANDIDIER 1867
Acinixys planicauda — SIEBENROCK 1902: 12
Testudo morondavaensis VUILLEMIN 1972
Pyxis planicauda — BOUR 1979
Pyxis planicauda — BOUR 1981
Pyxis planicauda — KING & BURKE 1989
Pyxis (Acinixys) planicauda — KUCHLING 1989
Acinixys planicauda — ERNST & BARBOUR 1989: 232
Pyxis (Pyxis) planicauda — GLAW & VENCES 1994: 224
Pyxis planicauda — VALVERDE 2005
Pyxis planicauda — TTWG 2021
Pyxis planicauda — TTWG 2025 
DistributionSW Madagascar (vicinity of Morondava)

Type locality: "Mouroundava, ouest de Madagascar," restricted by Bour 1981:165, to "Morondava, province de Tulear, Madagascar (puirrait etre restrainte a la foret d'Andranomena)."  
Reproduction 
TypesHolotype: MNHN-RA 9373; Syntype: NMW 23479 
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 1558 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentThis is one of the 25 most endangered turtle species according to a 2003 assessment by the IUCN.

Distribution: see map in TTWG 2025. 
EtymologyNamed after its supposedly flat tail (Latin “planus” = flat, and Latin “cauda” = tail). 
References
  • Behler, J.L., Q.M.C. Bloxam, E. Rakotovao, and H.J.A.R. Randriamahazo 1993. New localities for Pyxis planicauda in West-central Madagascar. Chelonian Conserv. Biol. J. IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freswater Turtle Specialist Group.
  • 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]
  • Bour, R. 1981. Etude systematique du genre endemique malgache Pyxis Bell, 1827 (Reptilia, Chelonii). Bull. Mens. Soc. Linn. Lyon. 50 (4-5): 132-144, 154-176. - get paper here
  • Bour, Roger 2005. The type specimens of Testudo planicauda Grandidier, 1867 and Testudo morondavaensis Vuillemin, 1972. Emys 12 (4) :22-27.
  • 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
  • Castellano, Christina M.; Anders G.J. Rhodin, Michael Ogle, Russell A. Mittermeier, <br />Herilala Randriamahazo, Rick Hudson, and Richard E. Lewis, Eds. 2014. Turtles on the Brink in Madagascar: Proceedings of Two Workshops on the Status, Conservation, and Biology of Malagasy Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles. Chelonian Research Monographs, doi: 10.3854/crm.6 - get paper here
  • Durell, L., B. Groombridge, S. Tonge, and Q. Bloxam. 1989. Acinixys planicauda, Madagscar flat-tailed tortoise, Kapidolo. In: Swingland, I.R. and M.W. Klemens (Eds.). The Conservation Biology of Tortoises. Occas. Pap. IUCN Species Survival Commission %:94-95.
  • Ernst,C.H. and Barbour,R.W. 1989. Turtles of the World. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C. - London
  • 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
  • Gemel, R.; G. Gassner & S. Schweiger 2019. Katalog der Typen der Herpetologischen Sammlung des Naturhistorischen Museums Wien – 2018. Ann. Naturhist. Mus. Wien, B 121: 33–248 - get paper here
  • Gibson, R.C. & Buley, K.R. 2004. Biology, captive husbandry, and conservation of the Malagasy Flat-tailed Tortoise, Pyxis planicauda Grandidier, 1867. Herpetological Review 35 (2): 111-116 - get paper here
  • Glaw ,F. & Vences, M. 1994. A Fieldguide to the Amphibians and Reptiles of Madagascar. Vences & Glaw Verlag, Köln (ISBN 3-929449-01-3)
  • GLOS, Julian 2012. Lebensraum Trockenwald – die Menabe-Region im Westen von Madagaskar. Terraria-Elaphe 2012 (6): 54-57 - get paper here
  • Grandidier, A. 1867. Liste des reptiles nouveaux découverts, en 1866, sur la côte sud-ouest de Madagascar. Revue et Magazine de Zoologie (Paris), Sér. 2, 19: 232-234
  • Hersche, H. & Liebel, K. 2003. Pyxis planicauda. Reptilia (Münster) 8 (41): 88-89 - get paper here
  • Kuchling, G and Q. Bloxam. 1988. Field-data on the madagascan flat-tailed tortoise Pyxis (Acinixys) planicauda. Amphibia-Reptilia 9:175-180. - get paper here
  • Kuchling, G. 1989. Ökologie, Lebensweise und Überlebenschancen der Landschildkröten Madagaskars. Salamandra 25 (3-4): 169-190 - get paper here
  • Siebenrock, F. 1902. Über zwei seltene Schildkroten der herpetologischen Sammlung des Wiener Museums. Anzeiger der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Classe, Wien 39: 11-13 - 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
  • Vuillemin, Simone 1972. Note sur Testudo morondavaensis n. sp. Ann. Univ. Madagascar (sér. Sci. Nat. Math.) 9: 127-134
  • Ziegler, Thomas; Joel Kamphausen, Frank Glaw, Angelica Crot- tini,, Gerardo Garcia, Dennis Rödder, Anna Rauhaus, Lilli Sten- ger & Anna Wahle 2022. Threatened Malagasy amphibians and reptiles in zoos – a call for enhanced implementation of the IUCN’s One Plan Approach Zool. Garten N.F. 90: 21-69 - get paper here
 
External links  
Is it interesting? Share with others:

As link to this species use URL address:

https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Pyxis&species=planicauda

without field 'search_param'. Field 'search_param' is used for browsing search result.



Please submit feedback about this entry to the curator