Cuora mccordi
Encyclopedia
McCord's box turtle is a species of the southeast Asian genus Cuora
Cuora
Asian box turtles are turtles of the genus Cuora in the family Geoemydidae comprising 10–11 species with about the same number of subspecies. The keeled box turtle is often included in this genus but is also often placed in its own genus...

 (family Geoemydidae
Geoemydidae
Geoemydidae is the largest and most diverse family in the order Testudines with about 70 species. It includes the Eurasian pond and river turtles and Neotropical wood turtles.-Characteristics:...

).
Described by Ernst in 1988 from the Chinese pet trade, this turtle
Turtle
Turtles are reptiles of the order Testudines , characterised by a special bony or cartilaginous shell developed from their ribs that acts as a shield...

 lacked distribution data for 19 years until Zhou et al. (2007) were able to report it from the wild. This species is highly endemic to Chinese Guangxi
Guangxi
Guangxi, formerly romanized Kwangsi, is a province of southern China along its border with Vietnam. In 1958, it became the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, a region with special privileges created specifically for the Zhuang people.Guangxi's location, in...

 province. This is one of the most endangered Chinese endemic turtle species, highly sought after by the traditional Chinese medicine
Traditional Chinese medicine
Traditional Chinese Medicine refers to a broad range of medicine practices sharing common theoretical concepts which have been developed in China and are based on a tradition of more than 2,000 years, including various forms of herbal medicine, acupuncture, massage , exercise , and dietary therapy...

and turtle hobbyists. Once thought to reach only 14 cm Carapace length, specimens of up to 18 cm are known now.
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