Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised May 28, 2026

Hunan softshell turtle

The Hunan softshell turtle is a species of turtle in the family Trionychidae, the softshells. It is endemic to China, where it occurs in Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Jiangxi provinces. It is found in Taoyuan, Pingjiang, Rucheng, Lingling, and Shaoyang counties of Hunan province.

Last revised
May 28, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
290 w
Citations
7
Source
Hunan softshell turtle
CITES Appendix II2
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Testudines
Suborder: Cryptodira
Family: Trionychidae
Genus: Pelodiscus
Species:
P. axenaria
Binomial name
Pelodiscus axenaria
(Zhou, Zhang & Fang 1991)1
Synonyms3
  • Trionyx axenaria
    Zhou, Zhang & Fang, 1991
  • Pelodiscus axenaria
    David, 1994
  • Pelodiscus axenarius
    Bour, 2002

The Hunan softshell turtle (Pelodiscus axenaria) is a species of turtle in the family Trionychidae, the softshells. It is endemic to China, where it occurs in Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Jiangxi provinces.45 It is found in Taoyuan, Pingjiang, Rucheng, Lingling, and Shaoyang counties of Hunan province (Zhou, Zhang & Fang, 1991).

The meaning of the epithet "axenaria" is unknown; Gong et al. (2022) suggested that it might be a misspelling of arenaria, which means "of sand" in Latin.6

References

References

  1. Rhodin et al. 2010, p. 000.208
  2. "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  3. Fritz, Uwe; Havaš, Peter. (2007). "Checklist of Chelonians of the World" (PDF). Vertebrate Zoology. 57 (2): 318. doi:10.3897/vz.57.e30895. ISSN 1864-5755.
  4. Pelodiscus axenaria. Reptile Database.
  5. Rhodin, Anders G.J. (2021-11-15). Turtles of the World: Annotated Checklist and Atlas of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution, and Conservation Status (9th Ed.). Chelonian Research Monographs. Vol. 8. Chelonian Research Foundation and Turtle Conservancy. doi:10.3854/crm.8.checklist.atlas.v9.2021. ISBN 978-0-9910368-3-7.
  6. Gong SP, Fritz U, Vamberger M, Gao YC, Farkas B (2022). "Disentangling the Pelodiscus axenaria complex, with the description of a new Chinese species and neotype designation for P. axenaria (Zhou, Zhang & Fang, 1991)". Zootaxa. 5125 (2): 131–143. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5125.2.2. PMID 36101223.

Bibliography