Pelodiscus is a genus of turtles in the family Trionychidae, the softshells. Based on genetic and morphological analysis there are seven valid species. They are native to Eastern Asia, ranging from the Amur region, south through China and Korea, as far south as Vietnam. Populations in Japan are thought to likely originate from historic human introductions.
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.
Species
- Pelodiscus axenaria (Zhou, Zhang & Fang, 1991) — Hunan softshell turtle
- Pelodiscus huangshanensis Y. Gong, Peng, S. Huang, Lin, R. Huang, Xu, Yang & Nie, 2021 — Huangshan softshell turtle, horse-hoof softshell turtle
- Pelodiscus maackii (Brandt, 1857) — Amur softshell turtle, northern Chinese softshell turtle
- Pelodiscus parviformis Tang, 1997 — lesser Chinese softshell turtle
- Pelodiscus shipian S. Gong, Fritz, Vamberger, Gao & Farkas, 2022 — Chinese stone slab softshell turtle
- Pelodiscus sinensis (Wiegmann, 1835) — Chinese softshell turtle
- Pelodiscus variegatus Farkas, Ziegler, Pham, Ong & Fritz, 2019 — spotted softshell turtle
Nota bene: In the above list, a binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Pelodiscus.
References
Further reading
- Fitzinger, L. (1835). "Entwurf einer systematischen Anordnung der Schildkröten nach den Grundsätzen der natürlichen Methode ". Annalen des Wiener Museums der Naturgeschichte. 1: 105–128. (Pelodiscus, new genus, p. 120). (in German and Latin).
- Rhodin, Anders G.J.; van Dijk, Peter Paul; Iverson, John B.; Shaffer, H. Bradley; Roger, Bour (2010-12-14). "Turtles of the World 2010 Update: Annotated Checklist of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution and Conservation Status" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-17. Retrieved 2010-12-15.
