Kinixys
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Kinixys | |
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Kinixys belliana | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Order: | Testudines |
Suborder: | Cryptodira |
Superfamily: | Testudinoidea |
Family: | Testudinidae |
Genus: | Kinixys Bell, 1827 |
Kinixys, commonly known as the hinge-back tortoise, is a genus of turtles in the family Testudinidae. The genus was erected by Thomas Bell in 1827. The species in the genus Kinixys are native to mainland Africa and commonly known as hinged tortoises.[1]
Most of the Kinixys species are omnivores. They feed mainly on a wide range of different leaves, weeds, roots, flowers and fruits. However, they also eat worms, insects and other small invertebrates.[2][3]
Species[]
- Kinixys belliana (Gray, 1830) – Bell's hinge-back tortoise
- Kinixys erosa (Schweigger, 1812) – forest hinge-back tortoise
- Kinixys homeana Bell, 1827 – Home's hinge-back tortoise
- Kinixys lobatsiana (Power, 1927) – Lobatse hinge-back tortoise
- Kinixys natalensis Hewitt, 1935 – Natal hinge-back tortoise
- Kinixys spekii Gray, 1863 – Speke's hinge-back tortoise
Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Kinixys.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ca/Genus_Kinixys_%28english%29.jpg/220px-Genus_Kinixys_%28english%29.jpg)
Distribution and habitat[]
The several species of the genus Kinxys are found across much of tropical and sub-tropical sub-Saharan Africa, ranging as far south as KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, and as far north as the fringes of the Sahel and Sahara. However, individuals are often very scarce within this range, and several species are threatened.
Though the species' wide geographic ranges overlap considerably, they are separated from each other by favouring different habitats within this range. Some species (such as K. belliana) favour open savannah or grasslands, others (such as K. homeana) favour rainforest.
Parasites[]
Species of tortoises in the genus Kinixys play host to a number of ectoparasites (external) and endoparasites (internal). A survey (by Alan Probert & Clive Humphreys) of mixed captive K. spekii and K. belliana (mostly K. spekii) in Zimbabwe showed that the following parasites were known to infest/infect this species. This had been observed and published by others too. However some of the tiny roundworms (photographed under scanning electron microscope) are very likely new species and as yet remain undescribed.
- Ticks (Arachnida)
- Roundworms (Nematoda) – Angusticium, Atractis and Tachygontria
References[]
- ^ Kirkpatrick, D. (1998). "African Hingeback Tortoises of the Genus Kinixys". Reptile & Amphibian Magazine. 54: 32-37. Archived 2012-10-21 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "The Hinge-Back Tortoises". britishcheloniagroup.org.uk.
- ^ "Natural History and Care of Bell's Hinged Tortoise". kingsnake.com.
Further reading[]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kinixys. |
- Bell, T. (1827). "On two new Genera of Land Tortoises". The Transactions of the Linnean Society of London. 15: 392–401. (Kinixys, new genus, p. 398). (in English and Latin).
- Kinixys
- Turtles of Africa
- Reptiles of South Africa
- Turtle genera
- Taxa named by Thomas Bell (zoologist)