Chinese three-striped box turtle
The golden coin turtle or Chinese three-striped box turtle (Cuora trifasciata ) is a species of turtle endemic to southern China.
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
Oviparous animals are female animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive...
Precocial species are those in which the young are relatively mature and mobile from the moment of birth or hatching. Precocial species are normall...
A herd is a social grouping of certain animals of the same species, either wild or domestic. The form of collective animal behavior associated with...
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starts withThis species has three distinct black stripes on its brown carapace, with a yellow, slightly hooked upper jaw and a yellow stripe extending from the back of the mouth. The plastron is mostly black with a yellow border.
The species is distributed in China, but only on the island of Hainan (it is extirpated from the mainland Guangdong, Guangxi, and Fujian provinces), as well as Hong Kong. The populations from other parts of Vietnam and Laos are now regarded a separate species, the Vietnamese three-striped box turtle (C. cyclornata ).
In Hong Kong, this species feeds on fish, frogs, and carrion, but remains of crabs, snails, and insects have been found in its faeces. It can grow up to 25 cm (10 in).
The species is considered critically endangered by the IUCN. It is used in folk medicine, e.g. as the key ingredient for the Chinese medicinal dessert guīlínggāo (龜苓膏); thus, it is under threat because of unsustainable hunting. It is one of the most endangered turtle species in the world, according to a 2003 assessment by the IUCN. C. trifasciata is listed among Turtle Conservation Coalition's 25 most endangered tortoises and freshwater turtles.
