(Boulenger, 1906)
Yunnan box turtle
Recognition
The carapace (to 14 cm) is relatively low arched, widest behind the center, and contains a strongly developed vertebral keel and two low lateral keels. Adult vertebrals are as long as broad, and much narrower than their accompanying pleurals; the 1st and 5th are flared. Posterior carapacial marginals are smooth in adults, but are slightly serrated in juveniles. The carapace ranges from chestnut brown to olive, and in some individuals the rim and keels may be yellow. The plastron is well-developed, but the hinge is weak, and the hindlobe does not completely close posteriorly, as it is somewhat narrow and medially notched. The plastral formula is: abd > pect > an > gut > fem > hum; the interanal seam is complete. The plastron is olive to brown with black seams and a yellowish border; a dark bar is present on the bridge. A large red-brown blotch may occur on each scute. The upper jaw is not hooked, but the snout is pointed and slightly projecting. The olive to brown head has a narrow yellow stripe running through the orbit to the neck, and a second yellow stripe extending from the corner of the mouth to the neck. Chin and throat are yellow to orange with olive mottlings. The neck is olive to brown with two orange stripes on each side. Skin of the limbs and tail is olive to brown with orange streaks.
Males have longer, thicker tails with the vent beyond the carapace.
Distribution
Cuora yunnanensis is known only from Yunnan Province, China, where it has been collected at altitudes over 1800 m. This species has not been collected since 1910; it probably is extinct.
IUCN Red List Status (1996)
Data deficient.