Pelodiscus
Genus of turtles
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pelodiscus is a genus of turtles in the family Trionychidae, the softshells.[2] Based on genetic and morphological analysis there are seven valid species.[3] They are native to Eastern Asia, ranging from the Amur region, south through China and Korea, as far south as Vietnam.[4] Populations in Japan are thought to likely originate from historic human introductions.[3]
| Pelodiscus | |
|---|---|
| |
| Pelodiscus sinensis, Chinese softshell turtle | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Testudines |
| Suborder: | Cryptodira |
| Family: | Trionychidae |
| Subfamily: | Trionychinae |
| Genus: | Pelodiscus Fitzinger, 1835[2] |
| Species | |
|
See text | |
Phylogenetic studies have recovered a high diversity of Pelodiscus genotypes in China, some of which may correspond to distinct species. However, the millennia-old practice of farming Pelodiscus for consumption, especially in large-scale turtle farms since the late 20th century, is thought to threaten these lineages due to hybridization with farmed individuals.[5]
Species
The following species are recognized by the Turtle Taxonomy Working Group:[6]
- Pelodiscus axenaria (Zhou, Zhang & Fang, 1991) — Hunan softshell turtle[2]
- Pelodiscus huangshanensis Y. Gong, Peng, S. Huang, Lin, R. Huang, Xu, Yang & Nie, 2021 — Huangshan softshell turtle, horse-hoof softshell turtle[7] (potentially synonymous with P. axenaria)[8]
- Pelodiscus maackii (Brandt, 1857) — Amur softshell turtle, northern Chinese softshell turtle[2]
- Pelodiscus parviformis Tang, 1997 — lesser Chinese softshell turtle[2]
- Pelodiscus shipian S. Gong, Fritz, Vamberger, Gao & Farkas, 2022 — Chinese stone slab softshell turtle[9] (potentially synonymous with P. axenaria)[8]
- Pelodiscus sinensis (Wiegmann, 1835) — Chinese softshell turtle[2]
- Pelodiscus variegatus Farkas, Ziegler, Pham, Ong & Fritz, 2019 — spotted softshell turtle[4]
Nota bene: In the above list, a binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Pelodiscus.